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Edwin McCain
Lost in America
(Vanguard)
First Appeared in The Music Box, April 2006, Volume 13, #4
Written by Tracy M. Rogers
It hardly seems nine years since Edwin McCain broke through on the US pop
charts with the self-penned ballad I’ll Be. That hit, plus his 1999 cover
of Diane Warren’s rather maudlin Could Not Ask for More, helped the South
Carolina-born singer/songwriter to make a name for himself as a pop-soul singer
worldwide. Unfortunately, his latest outing Lost in America showcases
neither his husky, soulful vocals nor his introspective songwriting prowess.
Instead, the 10-track album features a hard-edged combination of uninspired ’80s
rock riffs; screaming, heavy metal-infused vocals; and trite, angst-ridden
lyrics.
In fact, there are no true highlights on Lost in America, and only the
middle section of the bad-boy, power pop rave-up Bitter and Twisted and
the roots-rock Gramercy Park Hotel show any melodic promise. The rest of
the effort is bland, with overused guitar riffs that lack both ingenuity and
texture. Gramercy Park Hotel begins as a roots-y, Hootie and the
Blowfish-meets-John Mellencamp pop tune before it dissolves into overdone,
redundant lyrics about a favorite hangout, while The Kiss is an overly
maudlin love song with a generic folk-pop melody. McCain’s cover of Welcome
to Strugglesville attempts to plumb the depths of the challenges faced by
the working class, but it simply sounds clichéd,
while Truly Believe is a power chord-infused, ’80s-inspired number about
a lovers’ quarrel that fails to provide any punch or insight into relationships.
The title track tries to infuse political commentary into the affair, but it
fails because its stale lyrics blame breast implants, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll
for being the downfall of America — which, incidentally, is certain to impress,
rather than to dissuade, the redneck crowd.
The second half of Lost in America is equally unimpressive. My
Mystery finds McCain unsuccessfully trying to compete with Fountains of
Wayne, while Black and Blue, with its irksome melody and tepid saxophone
solo, sounds like a cross between Michael McDonald and Huey Lewis and the News.
The aforementioned Bitter and Twisted begins with banal lyrics like "I’ve
been a bad boy" and vocals that sound like a cross between Paul Westerberg and Metallica’s James Hetfield — a very discordant combination.
In fact, Lost in America finds McCain totally abandoning the soulful
vocals that made him famous in favor of heavy metal screeching. Nowhere is this
more apparent than on the album’s final two tracks: the slide guitar lament
Losing Tonight and the rock-metal-blues hybrid Babylon. Losing
Tonight is far more soulful than anything else on the effort, though it
still completely fails to capture the power of McCain’s voice, particularly on
the chorus where his singing mutates into a raspy sneer. Babylon, by
contrast, sounds like a leftover Black Sabbath song, and he stretches his voice
entirely too thin by trying to sing over the tune’s wailing, dissonant guitar
riffs. It seems quite obvious throughout the set that McCain’s style is not
suited for such heavy musical fodder.
Overall, Lost in America is an album that not only lacks a stylistic
focus, but also fails to provide one tune that isn’t a challenge to hear. One
only hopes that McCain will soon return to his soul and blues roots and leave
behind his misguided attempts to rehash the ’80s in all of its hard rock and
heavy metal glory.
Lost in America is available from Amazon.com.
To order, Click Here!
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2006
The Music Box
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