Music Street Journal - Music News & Reviews

Leonino Naked Tunes Review by Gary Hill This is a bit of a mixed bag. There are some particularly effective songs here. There are some that definitely don’t work as well. The whole thing tends toward understated and a little clumsy, though. It’s also obvious that English isn’t his first language (Leonino is the name under which Jorge Gonzalez - formerly the vocalist of Chilean rock band Los Prisioneros – is working for this project). Still, this has some strong moments. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2014 Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

I Think We Should Be Friends At first there is a stripped back alternative rock kind of vibe to this. The track grows out after a time, though, to more of a lush arrangement. There are jazz, pop and rock elements all heard here. This is classy stuff.

Don't Change Your Mind This one isn’t nearly as effective. The more stripped back arrangement is a bit too sparse and a little odd. The lyrics rely too much on repetition of the title. There are some pretty odd dark lyrical moments later, too. I just don’t really get this one at all.

My Time Is Gonna Come Another with a rather odd and stripped back arrangement, this one works pretty well. A lot of that comes from the vocal arrangement and song structure itself.

My Love Will Set You Free More of a balladic number, this is one of the more accessible pieces here. It is also one of the more effective ones.

Not a Sound The arrangement on this has some of the most dramatic musical moments here. This piece works better than just about anything else here. It’s powerful and dramatic. It has both jazz and progressive rock elements at play.

How Many Times Did You Save My Soul Bouncy and retro textured, this is another of the better pieces here.

It Wasn’t Meant to Be Although this one is also a bit strange, it’s quite good. It’s more of a jazz ballad type of arrangement.

After the Big War Here we get a jazz little number that’s quite strong. I love the more rocking section.

Down the River Another with a jazzy arrangement, this is an effective piece, too. It’s one of the better numbers here.

There Is a Light The opening section of this is delivered acappella. It’s one of my favorite parts of the album. Then piano joins after the first set of vocals. The cut continues with that accompaniment. It doesn’t lose any effectiveness in the process. It gets into some very jazzy territory later, but the instrumentation remains the same. Only additional layers of vocals are added. This piece is really the best thing here. That makes it a great closer.

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