Peter Walker

Item: Landed
Author: Phil Nichols

Landed

(2005)

Reviewed by Phil Nichols

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Label Dangerbird RecordsDecapolisFebruary 2005

folk rock indie rock singer-songwriter

This album should have been amazing.

Peter Walker assembled a fine cast of back-up musicians to play on Landed. Beck's bassist, R.E.M.'s drummer, Wilco's guitarist/keyboardist/and former co-mastermind all combine their efforts to support a relatively obscure producer-turned-singer/songwriter in his quest to make laid-back rock in the vein of Neil Young.

This should have been every indie scenester's dream-come-true.

But it is not.

Sure, the songs are catchy. I readily admit that I found myself nodding along with many of the album's tracks. However, much of the lyrics and music seem somewhat forced - like the band was trying a little too hard to create an "instant classic". The production, vocals, guitars, percussion, it all sounds great, but it is dry (and at some points, just plain boring).

Maybe it's just the initial letdown of hearing four talented musicians and the production assistance of Joe Chiccarelli (Frank Zappa, U2) and Tony Hoffer (Beck, Air) produce a less-than-amazing album. But this album was disappointing - not so much because the disc is bad - but with the resume these guys have, they could have done much better.

If you like any of the bands mentioned, you will probably enjoy this record the first few times through. But be warned: at times Peter Walker tries a little bit too hard to be Neil Young. Eventually you will find yourself listening to the album more to see how the individual musicians perform in comparison to their other projects rather than for enjoyment of the songs themselves.

2.5/4