For his sophomore release, Chris Taylor has recruited the production talents of Ragamuffins' Mark Robertson and Rick Elias, and it has certainly paid off in this collection of rootsy pop-rock songs.
Chris Taylor has a strong melodic sensibility which he uses to good effect in shaping the hooks which dominate a number of these tracks. Musically, the album shows a well rounded mix of influences from U2 to alt. country to classic rock, and these combine with vocals which range from conspiratorial whispers to emotional proclamations. The vocals sometimes seem a little over-strained and Taylor's range isn't huge, but they are generally used to good effect.
The lyrics are hard to find in the busy sleeve design, but are much more central to the album than its sleeve. As the title suggests the focus of the album is the struggle of searching for things of heaven while living amongst the things of earth. Taylor manages to produce a set of songs which exhort people to look past their struggles without oversimplifying those struggles.
A well produced album that deserves to bring Taylor a lot more attention. With all the time that former Love Coma bandmate Matt Slocum has received in the limelight, perhaps there's some space for Taylor to at least enjoy a little of it.
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Steve StockmanChris Taylor had always the potential for something great. His lyrical bite was as hard hitting as the rock sound of his band Love Coma and his solo debut "down goes the day" was tasty if not commercially accessible. And so Rhythm House have brought in Mark Robertson and Rick Elias to give Taylor the sound that would bring his poetic thoughtfulness to a much wider audience. No doubt economics was…Similar sounding releases
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