Greg Pope "Popmonster"

Greg Pope, the lead guitarist of Edmund’s Crown has a new solo CD out now. As much as I loved Regrets of a Company Man a few years ago, this album is even better. In fact, this is outstanding power pop that blows the doors off most other bands out there. He fires off a great leading track “Sky Burn Down” has the buzz and crashing cymbals of The Who and the guitar licks that recall Badfinger’s best moments. This template continues with “I Got A Life” which rips through the chorus with infectious glee, kind of like Sweet and Lenny Kravitz on speed. Every song here is a choice cut, “Lost My Friend” and “Playing Nashville” being closer to Edmunds Crown style with a more diverse pattern of instrumentation, the latter resembling Robert Pollard playing for The Monkees. Another highlight, “Burden” has a nice 70s roots feel as he sings “I can’t tell my Dad. I can’t tell my Mom. Tell me, who can I dump this on.”, one of the best songs about teen guilt ever. “All Day Long” really pushes the Who/Badfinger buttons for me, with power chords and harmonies interlaced together. I could talk about how “New Song” has hotter guitar licks than anything Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme) has done lately. I could go through the entire fourteen track list, but lets just say to quote comic book guru Stan Lee, “Nuff Said!” This is also one of the rare moments Steve at absolutepowerpop blog and I have reviewed the CD at the exact same day, and we both agree it’s an amazing “pop monster” of an album. Great minds think alike, it gets a Top Ten of 2008 nod.

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