Rockford, Illinois's own Clark Colborn is back, nine years after his debut cd. He returns with "Again" On this self engineered, and produced effort, with final mastering from Ty Tabor(King's X) Clark lays down the Guitar, Bass, Keyboards & Vocal tracks and is joined this time around by the very proficient drummer Joel Baer, plus added vocals from Clark's wife & sons, and a few friends. Let's have a listen!
Clark's guitar prowess is evident. The man plays guitar like a journeyman. I could hear echoes of the heavier side of 70's prog,a thread moving throughout that makes me think of Martin Barre on "Thick as A Brick". Overall a nice introduction to Colborn"s music. "The Unexpected" certainly lived up to it's title, I didn't expect the vocals towards the end of this largely instrumental song and to me they seemed awkwardly out of place yet endearing,
I like "Lie to Me" For its strong 80's rock vibe reminiscent of The Smithereens "Blood And Roses". Nice fills and thrills.
"The Harmonic Thing" is a sort of guitar fingering exercise. I get impressions of windchimes, raindrops, a lilting melody repeating itself yet subtly changing. A short intermission, a chance to relax. I thought of Rush & Starcastle.
Another stand out instrumental is "Mr In-a-Hurry". Good choice for a title as this tune rushes past with a more than pedestrian tempo. Not much slowing down here, gotta go!
I walked into the grocery store with "It's Your Life" stuck in my ear, really a catchy, fist pumping, classic rock tune with riffs galore & a hooky chorus, it sounds like they had fun playing this.
"Into The Mist" is a little darker, somewhat mournful jam. Perhaps a tribute to lost souls, faded memories. Alot of emotion comes across in a short amount of time.
My thoughts are, if you're in the mood for some soulful, skillful guitar playing, this is a cd you can put on and let it carry you away for a few. Mostly instrumental tracks with a couple of good natured vocal pieces. Plenty of air guitar moments to be had. Clark's personality comes through loud and clear, he seems like a man with an easy sense of humor,really approachable. Check it out if you can. And with a soon to be released video, you'll have that chance!
Reviewed by Chris Erbeck on April 29th, 2012
