The veteran songwriter (Trews, Big Sugar) likes to have fun on his
own records, of which this is the fourth. Clearly a fan of the
well-crafted tune, here Ballantyne dives deep, coming up with a polished
batch that all work individually, and also as part of a bigger picture,
the whole nine track release. Playing every part himself aside from
some added voices, he gives us what so few do these days, a
start-to-finish album, in that old rock idea of all-killer, no-filler.
Inspired
by the classics, Ballantyne added familiar touchstones, including some
Floyd space on "Beneath Your Skin," some Harrison slide on "I Get Lost,"
and Moody mellotron on "Vicious In Your Vanity." And while he may be
pleasing himself with these studio concoctions, the songs all feature an
attention to detail that fans of great pop production love. The
arrangements take the tunes way past the verse-chorus-verse model, with
lots of prog soaring and drama, and perfect instrument choices appearing
out of nowhere to take the track to a new level.
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