Harvey Reid's eighth album features both original songs and the great instrumental work his listeners have come to expect. His singer-songwriter role is featured on nice songs like "Circles" and "Waiting for the Day." The former song features pleasant harmony accompaniment by Lynn Rothermich, while "Waiting for the Day" effectively captures odd details like how a lyric on the radio strikes you when you're driving in the wee-hours of the morning, trying to stay awake. Reid's arrangements remain simple on these songs, with only his nimble guitar work as a backdrop. "Golden Rule" is a happy love song, with upbeat blues guitar accompaniment, while "Crossing the Badlands" features a Western, as in Old West, flavored mandolin. "Once upon a Time" is a seven-minute ballad about a king, a princess, and a musician, the loss and gain of a kingdom, and true love. While this may seem like a lot to fit into even a seven-minute song, it works, and the chorus will have the listener singing along. Instrumentals like "Red in the Sky, Blood on the Water" and "Five Cent Cigar" display Reid's always agile fingerstyle guitar work. Both of these were written by Reid, and the later features another of his wonderful tributes to Merle Travis. Circles is another nice entry into Reid's cannon, sure to please guitarists and old fans.
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