Music Street Journal - Music News & Reviews

Non-Prog CD Reviews

The Blue Dolphins Come On! Review by Gary Hill I like this outfit quite a bit. Their music has a real timeless quality. The vocals are mostly female, but there are some male ones, too. It’s also best described as pop rock, but there is some range to it. I previously reviewed their EP and a number of these songs are included on that disc. For the sake of consistency, I’ve used or modified those track reviews for use here. All in all, this is a stronger set than that one, with a bit more range. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2016 Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

Come On! This is a fun pop rocker. It’s energized and catchy. It has hints of things like folk music, island vibes and even power pop.

Afraid of Moving On Although it still has classic musical elements, this is more modern in texture. It’s kind of alternative pop. It’s a catchy and energetic piece.

If I Could (Dreams) Here is quite a pretty cut. It’s more modern in tone, but still feels classic in a lot of ways. The vocal arrangement steals the show, but that’s not to discount the rest of the song structure. This is a solid piece all the way through.

Walking in the Sun This cut has a great blend of surf music and 1960s pop rock. It’s a fun and bouncy little number.

Breaking for the Blue Folk music is the main premise here. That said, we get alternative rock in the mix along with some hints of jazz. This is a classy and quite catchy tune.

Peace to the World I like the vocal harmonies on this a lot. There is a lot of jazz in the mix here. It’s another great piece of music. It’s somewhat more complex than the songs we’ve heard to this point. That said, it’s still quite accessible.

Stars This starts more like a mellow ballad. It gets more powered on the choruses and as it continues. There are jazz elements here. Overall, though, it’s pop rock that’s rather modern in tone.

Wide and Blue Horizons There is a lot of country and Americana built into this. I like it a lot. It’s both a nice change and an effective cut.

Shelter Me World music, folk and pop rock seem to merge on this catchy little piece. It’s not a big change, but everything here works really well.

Upon and Above Roots rock, pop music and more merge here. This is an accessible cut with a great moving groove.

New Summer I really love the guitar fills on this. The cut continues a lot of the musical themes we’ve heard, but it even wanders toward progressive rock in some ways.

Pleased to Meet You This is a cool rocking cut. It has a lot of country in the mix, too. It’s a fun song.

Sail Away This starts with a mellower motif, similar to the rest of the album. Then it powers out to some almost raw rock after the first verse. It has a bit of a punk or reggae vibe. In some ways comparisons to Blondie aren’t out of the question here.

Free Fall from Bliss The closer is a mellower piece. It starts along the lines of folk music, but works toward jazz after a time.

More CD Reviews

Metal/Prog Metal

Non-Prog

Progressive Rock

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
© 2024 Music Street Journal Site design and programming by Studio Fyra, Inc./Beetcafe.com