OUT OF MIND

For the life of me, I can't remember why this album ever made it to my "check-out list". Probably it was just a part that my ear caught because now that I got around to actually check it out, I scratch my head in disbelief and I wonder where my head was when I ticked it. In essence, I have three issues with this album. The first one is the vocals of Malcolm Galloway (it's actually a one-man band since he plays all instruments except the bass and the flute) are very average (he's doing a bit better when he sings in a hushed fashion). The second one is that the guitar work ranks among the worst I have ever heard since the tone is awful and the playing is truly unimaginative. The 90% of the guitars is hitting a chord, allowing it to ring for a whole bar or two, hit it again and so on (the exception to the rule is Defiance and it is the album's less bad song). The third is that the music as a whole is unimaginative. There are some nice parts here and there, but does that say much? Every time (not too many, that is) I was listening to one of them, I kept pushing myself "hey, it can't be so bad" but it is. I listened to the entire album two times, but I gave up on the third. Just one remark: every time I see a one-man band, chances are it won't be a good one. It's kind of hard to be an accomplished songwriter/guitarist/drummer/vocalist/keyboardist all rolled into one. The diversity and versatility which can be achieved by different personalities is excluded with this setup unless we are talking about highly gifted people.

I don't like to use one star as a rating, but even on two-stars albums there are a couple songs that I like. Unfortunately, here this is not the case.