Very even-handed review for Shooting Star from Belgian website Rootstime.be. I never thought Bob Dylan and Neil Young would be named in a review of our CD. I’ve had to use Google Translate and then make it sound more natural because the literal translation was very messy, but the heart of it (and I hope this is accurate) is as follows:
“From the first song, When I Look In Your Eyes, the tone of the CD is set: harmony vocals, acoustic guitars and tuneful pop songs. An ideal start for a carefree Sunday morning.
All the songs on the CD were written by vocalist/guitarist Billy MacInnes. His voice is most reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s on Lay Lady Lay as he sings carefree songs about love and relationships. The limited vocal range of the singer is buttressed by the band and the beautiful voice of Maria Gallagher who also sings lead on Sunday Morning.
Songs like the title track, Shooting Star, and Falling Out Of Love do exactly what they are meant to do as acoustic pop songs played with enthusiasm. Innovative it is not – there are no risks – but the songs are subtle enough to never be boring which keeps the record sounding fresh to the end.
Two of the songs – Just Another Winter’s Morning and You Don’t Have To Be Crazy To Love Me – raise questions about whether this enthusiasm is enough. The arrangements are just too nice and the keyboards on Just Another Winter’s Morning are downright annoying. This is unfortunate because the songs themselves are strong. You can only wonder what someone like Neil Young would do with these songs as they would fit well on a record like Comes A Time.”
The original review can be found here in the reviews section:
