Music Street Journal - Music News & Reviews

Non-Prog CD Reviews

Free Willy Remember the Alamo Review by Gary Hill If you are a big fan of down-home old school country music, particularly of the bluegrass variety, you will find plenty to like here. These guys have created a series of modern tunes that feel as if they could have been recorded decades ago. While I enjoy the vocals and songs themselves, the instrumental work on this really steals the show. There is some amazing stuff here. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2017 Volume 6 at garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2017.

Track by Track Review

Amazing Gracie Down-home country and bluegrass makes up the sound of this number. It's energetic and fun. The lyrics of "Amazing Grace" get some reworking at times on this.

Get in the Car While the general musical territory is unchanged, this is a mid-tempo piece. It's perhaps a bit more closely tied to folk music. It definitely feels more "serious." It still has a good time vibe to it, though.

God Has a Name The picking on this is classy and intricate. The tune is energetic. The lyrics are all about rainbows. I particularly dig the fiddle solo on this piece.

Not Your Everyday Love Song This mid-tempo number is rather bouncy and fun. It's just more good time music.

As a Man Thinketh While this is no big change, for some reason I can almost hear the Grateful Dead doing this. It's another fun number with some great down-home picking.

Another Day Another Dollar Energetic and down-home styled, this is another solid cut. Again, I think the instrumental work really steals the show here. That said, it's still fun beyond that.

It's Good If You Like It The fun factor is intensified here. The musical concepts haven't really changed, but this is a high energy romp. I love the fiddle on this one.

Meant to Be Slow moving and balladic, this is a nice change of pace (both literally and figuratively). It's a pretty tune.

Sugar Baby A faster paced number, this is another fun one. This instrumental works really well, and brings some more variety to the table.

Down the Track Harmonica at the start emulates a train horn. This is a quick paced, old school hoe-down type of piece. It's a lot of fun and one of my favorites here.

Remember the Alamo Very much a 1940s or 50s styled country ballad, this is pretty and tasty. I like this one a lot.

Medley: The Star Spangled Banner / America the Beautiful Here we get a bluegrass medley of two pieces of patriotic Americana.

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