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)