Neilson Hubbard – The Slide Project

“Everybody’s Doing It”, the leadoff track on Neilson Hubbard’s debut solo release, is a pop plum. The tongue-in-cheek lyrics combined with a juicy musical hook whet your appetite for the remaining 10 tracks. Unfortunately, not all of the material is as tasty. The lyrics of many of the songs are a bit simplistic and the production tries too hard to be innovative. Although there are two guitarists on the record, there seems to be a dearth of strong guitar leads.

Nevertheless, Hubbard has a great sense of melody and an awesome voice. Sometimes reminiscent of Eric Carmen but always with his own way of expressing himself, Hubbard has been obviously singing since he was a mere lad. Besides the first song, there are a few other gems here, notably “Things Are Golden”, “Paper Star” and “Innocence”.