• Band / Artist : Jeff Scott – mySpace
• Genre : Acoustic / Folk Rock / Pop
• Sample Track Download : Company
• Buy CD : CD Baby
• Buy Digital Download : iTunes
• Rating : 8 out of 10

It’s not often that I request a band’s or artist’s album, after listening to a few of their tracks on MySpace or some other music service and then not like it. This was the case when I got the latest album in from Jeff Scott. I’m fortunate to be able to listen to music while working. Late one afternoon I put on this album, and after a few tracks, I started to feel a bit jittery. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was, but suffice to say, a change of music was required. And so the album sat in the pile for a while, before I pulled it out again for a quick listen. This time, I think my frame of mind was better and I was able to listen to the album with no distractions.

The first thing that struck me, was the vocal similarity to Christopher Cross, better know as the man behind the theme to the movie Arthur, and not to mention the brief sound bite, of his song “Sail Away” in the fantastic animated movie, “Flushed Away”. This is a very relaxed and prominently acoustic album. There’s a nice balance of music and vocals, which blend together very nicely.

There’s some great songs amongst the 11 tracks that are featured. I particularly loved the track that opens the album, “Catch the Train”, the wonderfully titled “Angels Do Drink Beer”, “Company” with it’s melancholic, reflective mood and the similarly mellow “Her Only Bad Habit is Me”. My favorite tracks though would have to be “You’re in My Heart” and “Sometimes Hope” which draws the album to a fitting conclusion.

If I were to point my finger at anything, it’s that sometimes I feel Jeff’s vocals are tad samey. Criticism is a hard thing for me to wave around and I don’t do it lightly, it’s just that by the time the albums finished it’s almost like my head is eager to hear something different. I think this is almost like the musical equivalent to Alan Whicker’s monosyllabic voice. I’m in no way saying the vocals are bad, boring or anything so damning, just that they don’t seem to vary too much.

Conclusion : This is a really pleasant album, which I’ll probably put on when I’m in the mood to chill and just let the music wash over me. I think with a few tracks to shake things up a bit, this would have been a truly great album.