Terry Holley - Acoustic Covers

Terry Holley - Acoustic Covers

2010, The Standard Electrical Record Company

Terry Holley is a man living his dream.  Over the course of three months Holley recorded eleven covers of classic tunes in his home.  Mixed in a Florida studio with limited compression, the album Acoustic Covers gives life to Holley’s straightforward style of acoustic guitar play, mixing in organic and synthesized instruments.  Holley will be giving away one hundred copies of the album as Christmas gifts to family and friends this holiday season, and will also be offering Acoustic Covers for sale online in the near future.  Holley expects to lose money on Acoustic Covers, but is proceeding purely on his love for music.

Acoustic Covers is literally titled.  There isn’t much original or surprising in the eleven tracks offered here, but Holley offers consistent and loving renditions of classic rock songs one might assume were among his personal favorites.  Holley keeps the arrangements simply drawn, offering up just enough instrumental support to build a sufficient canvas to backlight his guitar-based melodies.  The results are generally very solid; while Holley never quite sets the night on fire with his guitar style, he manages to move from song to song with a bit of spirit and panache in spite of the middle-of-the-road arrangements.

Holley opens with The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Daydream”, a straight-up instrumental read with a playful feel.  You can almost hear Holley’s smirk throughout the song.  “Splish Splash” is similarly arranged, adding light percussion this time around.  Musically solid, there’s a somewhat canned feel to this one – like slightly upbeat Muzak.  Holley shows some real bounce on Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth”, working some jazzy life into the transitions.  Holley keeps upping the ante here, getting some real bounce into the act as the song progresses.  Holley takes The Beatles to the music box on “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” with a faithful instrumental that keeps things simple.

Holley has some fun with Pure Prairie League’s “Amie”, a sweet cover that captures the melodic heart of the song in a tight and well-played cover.  Holley then steps out on a bit of a limb with The Left Banke’s “Walk Away Renee”, incorporating flute and strings in a solid rendition that seems a bit more ambitious than what has come before.  The Doobie Brothers’ “Black Water” is up next in a sufficiently intricate rendition that is aurally appealing.    Holley captures the snarky feel of Eric Idle’s “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life”, offering up a light and airy reading that will leave a smile on your face.  “Obladi, Oblada” gets back to the music box Beatles feel noted earlier in a straight-up, enjoyable rendition.  Procol Harum’s “Whiter Shade Of Pale” is eminently reverent to the original arrangement even if it seems a bit dissociated from the emotional heart of the song.  Holley closes with Gioachino Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” in a technically splendid performance.

Terry Holley certainly chases the dream on Acoustic Covers.  In this regard the album is a huge success, as Holley manages to perfect a dream long held.  Acoustic Covers is a pleasant listen that is certain to please the ears and provide for hours of solid background music.  Holley is proficient with the guitar; technically consistent and able to display the occasional spark that turns a mediocre album into an above-average one.  Acoustic Covers does tend to be a bit too straightforward at times.  It would be nice to hear Holley actually interpret the songs offered up here rather than just playing straight melody lines.  But for what it is, Acoustic Covers is worth spending a bit of time on.  And as a dream come true, you could do worse.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

 Acoustic Covers is available as a digital download from Amazon.com, CDBaby and iTunes.

Review: Wizards Of Waverly Place – Original Soundtrack

Wizards Of Waverly Place – Original Soundtrack/Various Artists
2009, Walt Disney Records
Wizards Of Waverly Place is one of the hottest television properties Disney owns these days, so it’s no surprise that they’ve chosen to release a soundtrack from the show featuring such young stars as Selena Gomez, Aly & AJ, KSM, Drew Seeley and Raven-Symone. Wizards Of Waverly Place features twelve tracks that are from or inspired by the hit show, many of them Rock and Pop classics with the word magic in the title that have been re-interpreted to varying degrees of success. Wizards Of Waverly Place was released on August 4, 2009.

Series star Selena Gomez has four songs on the soundtrack. Opening with Disappear, a highly produced bit of Pop fluff, Gomez displays a strong, pleasant voice amidst heavy hooks. This is a legitimate Pop hit outside of the teeny bopper set the show is aimed at. Magical is another legitimate Pop hit. Gomez shows off a lot of texture in her voice here and a quirky side that is endearing. Up next is a cover of Pilot’s Magic that’s updated for today’s Pop sound. I can’t say I’m a big fan of this version but it isn’t too far off the mark. The other Gomez track is the series theme song, Everything Is Not As It Seems. If you listen to any sort of Pop radio you already know this one.

Up next is Steve Rushton covering Jeff Lynne/Electric Light Orchestra’s Strange Magic in a faithful cover with incredibly harmonies. This was my favorite cover on the disc, and Rushton shows real talent as a vocalist. Honor Society takes on The Cars’ Magic and loses in a Karaoke club bit of blandness. The vocalist here just doesn’t have the panache or quirk of Ric Ocasek and ends up sounding mechanical. Mitchel Musso digs into The Police’s Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic to much the same effect found on the previous track. The vocalist displays little personality and is so ensconced in vocal effects and pitch correction software we may never know what his voice really sounds like. This rendition is bland in spite of the upbeat chorus. KSM gives a fair rendition of Steppenwolf’s Magic Carpet Ride, providing enough attitude and oomph to make the song believable and fair harmonies to boot.

Meaghan Martin draws Olivia Newton-John’s Magic and delivers a flat, highly-processed reading that simply doesn’t work. The energy and vitality of the original make this unlistenable by comparison. Andrew Seeley (of High School Musical fame) takes on America’s You Can Do Magic in a version designed and produced to do well on Pop Radio. There are more vocal effects here than you can wrap your head around in a re-envisioned Pop/Dance package. Raven Symone chips in with Some Call It Magic, a decent but not highly memorable pop tune that will likely play well on Radio Disney and not elsewhere. Aly & AJ hit gold covering The Lovin’ Spoonful’s Do You Believe In Magic. There has always been something of a bubblegum quality to this song, and that spirit isn’t lost here, but the vocalists have wonderfully textured voices that highlight the duality of the song. While vocal effects are probably endemic on anything Disney touches, the voices of Aly & AJ sound like they might just be real, and the energy here is high.

Wizards Of Waverly Place is a mixed bag. Highlights include Aly & AJ, Andrew Seeley, Steve Rushton and the irrepressible Selena Gomez. The choice of including covers of classic songs either soars or crashes and burns, depending on the artist/song. Some of the artists included here just don’t have the voice or personality (either that or it’s been produced out of them) to carry the songs they’ve been assigned. The album will do very well with the Radio Disney set, and some of the songs are legitimate Pop tunes that will do well on commercial radio. This is one of those albums where the ability to download just the songs you want may be advantageous.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Wizards Of Waverly Place at Walt Disney online. You can purchase Wizards Of Waverly Place at Amazon.com, or you can download the album from Amazon MP3 or iTunes.