The Phantom Tollbooth
 
Call
Artist: David Scott-Morgan
Label: Indie
Time: 16 tracks/57.07
 
This former ELO guitarist, now a commercial pilot, hasn't left music entirely. Following his conversion to Christianity in 1988 his songwriting took a new focus and these 16 songs are a result of that.
 
Probably best described as adult pop songs, these songs mix a fair sprinkling of synthesiser with some guitar and programmed rhythms. The guitar work is certainly the highlight, with some creative chord sequences and some nice lead underlying a couple of tracks. The synthesiser and rhythms are, unfortunately, a bit of a hindrance to the project. Where the synth is used well it is used very well, but it gets a bit tiring and the rhythms are rather predictable.  Scott-Morgan's vocals are well suited to his lyrics, with the odd touch Chris de Burgh.

The highlight is probably "God's Good Time," which moves from an atmospheric, brooding verse to a driving chorus. This is one place where the keyboards are used especially well, along with some orchestrated vocals which suit it well. This track was produced by Jeff Lynne, and one wonders how much better the album would be if Lynne had produced all of it. The songs are good, as is the playing, but live drums would help a lot.

By James Stewart (10/8/98)