• Band / Artist : Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers – mySpace
• Genre : Rock / Americana / Country
• Sample Track Download : N/A
• Buy CD : Band Store
• Buy Digital Download : iTunes
• Rating : 9.5 out of 10

Comparing a band to Neil Diamond, can either be taken as a huge compliment, or a slap in the face, depending on your perspective. Here it’s meant very much as the former. It’s almost like Neil Diamond for the 21st century, with Neil Diamond’s very melodic vocals, backed by a terrific band and some killer songs. OK, so comparisons to an aging, 60s and 70s superstar are not something every band will appreciate, but the end result here is something quite special.

The album opens with “Hello New Day” and you can’t help but be swept up with the positive vibe of the album. This really is one of those albums, you need when you’re a grumpy git in need of some spirit elevation. In fact I had it on my portable player, while waiting for the bus, as my wife told me she wouldn’t be able to pick me up from work. I don’t take the dreaded bus often, so my mood was decidedly jaded.

When I hit play button, after selecting this album, it was almost like one of those moments, when you are standing in a torrential downpour and then the rain stop and the sun fights it’s way through. That’s exactly how I felt when “Hello New Day” started. This was the first time I’d actually really listened to this album, and thinking that this was one trick pony, “Bottom of the Bay” came on and I was immediately blown away, by the apparent consistency of this album. There’s 14 tracks on this album and I have to say I’m very hard pressed to pick a single song that failed to live up to the expectations that had been heightened by the first two tracks. I know this is going to be a difficult album indeed to select a single song for the podcast, so I just may have to do a “Good Luck Joe” and feature two… that is if Roger lets me.

Something I always find strange, is this album is classified as Americana, which is a classification that has always baffled me. To me this is classic pop/rock and fantastic pop/rock at that.

Conclusion : A terrific album, that has been on constant rotation in my CD player for a good few weeks, and will no doubt be played for a long while to come.