Often when you hear an album by an actor - some recent examples certainly come to mind - you might think that this person really is neither a singer or a musician and is just being force fed the lines one by one to sell the album based on their name. Trust me, it happens - and I'll bet if you put your mind to it, you can come up with at least a couple of examples right off the bat. Well, with Tim Russ, that's not what you get at all. In fact, he's been playing music longer than he's been acting. So, while you might think of him as the Vulcan Tuvok on Star Trek Voyager, this man is an accomplished musician. Of the seven songs on Brave New World none are what you would call "bad." In fact, there are several that are outstanding. I guess I only have a few relatively minor complaints about the disc. First, it's too short - this thing comes in at under half an hour. As good as it is, I really would like to have had more music on the album. Secondly, the best song on the album is the one that Russ wrote - the title track. Showing that much strength in his compositional ability I would love to have had less covers and more original material. Finally, I think that a little rearranging might have put a stronger cut as the album closer to make a better release. All those things said, though, nothing can take away from the fact that this is a very entertaining album. It's also diverse. At times Russ seems to be wandering towards progressive rock, while other times he's singing the blues and running into the gospel end of the spectrum - yet it feels cohesive. That's quite a feat.

Russ sings very well, but he also provides a vast majority of the sounds on the album, including all the guitars. Bill Burchell took care of the keyboards and sequencing, but he's also credited with "really bad puns." Certainly that last one is a very important function in the recording of any album. In any event, whether you like Star Trek or not, if you are a fan of mature, thoughtful music that is done well, you should give this one a shot. It's a very good album that touches on greatness in a few places. I just hope next time around Russ does more originals and puts together a longer album - as his Trek character might say, "it's logical." You can find out more about, listen to sound clips and purchase the disc at Russ' website.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2005 Year Book Volume 3 at https://garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2005.