Not content to be respected for his talents as an above average blues-rocker,
Jonny Lang makes a rather abrupt change on his third album. Unfortunately, it's a change towards a below-average, religiously inspired, hard rocking singer/songwriter. Arriving nearly five years after his last release, there is no problem with
Lang realigning himself and staking his claim as a more "adult" musician. But between over-the-top vocals that sound like he's straining to zip up his trousers and turgid tunes that lie languid between funk, hard rock, and bluesy R&B, the album lost whatever audience he still had and didn't acquire any newcomers either. Additionally the tracks are fattened up with multiple overdubs and Pro Tools-enhanced sweetening, making the majority of them sound like dated, second-rate
Journey-styled arena rock. Some of the blame should be handed to producer/co-songwriter
Marti Frederiksen, who seems to think that ladling on strings, drum tracks, and as much extraneous goop as possible will make
Lang more "contemporary." It generally fails and one hopes that
Lang can bounce back on his next project. Even the comparatively stripped-down "Touch" is obliterated by
Lang's uncomfortably strained vocals that make it sound like he's trying to imitate
Prince at karaoke night. The acoustic title track starts to make amends, but coming 14 songs in, it's too little too late. A closing "bonus live version" of
Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City" finally nails it, but
Lang's singing is still pretentious, the blaring horns are overkill, and it only accentuates how subpar the material on the rest of the disc is. It's a major disappointment and setback for a once promising musician. ~ Hal Horowitz