Greg Pope “A Few Seconds Of Fame”
Perennial power pop favorite Greg Pope is back! After 2016’s Guiding Star, Pope continues to impress with his crunchy guitar chords and catchy choruses akin to Matthew Sweet. “Forget About You” is a solid opener with the wall of guitars and an earworm melody. Next “She’s Already There” changes tone multiple times, with some classical touches and it makes for a unique listening experience that leads to the chorus.
Pope carefully constructs his songs and adds nice little details, like a harpsichord opening on “Planet Earth” and occasional metal-styled guitar arpeggios sprinkled in other tunes. Highlights include; “Hopes and Dreams and Fears,” “Dreams About You” and the amazing finale “You Got Inside My Head.” Highly Recommended (as usual).
P. Hux “This Is The One”
After the brilliant Thank You Bethesda in 2013, Parthenon Huxley is back. He’s been on fans radar for over 30 years as an expert in songwriting, production, and guitar playing. He is also a founding member of The Orchestra and played with numerous famous musicians over the years.
“You gotta vision you can’t let go…” he sings on the title track, a rousing opener full of great energy. But most of the songs are more subdued, like the mellow “Song For James,” written for his daughter Fiona James Huxley, which is like a lost Eagles song. I definitely hear some Joe Walsh influences in the guitar solo. He amps the energy up for the catchy “Just Sayin’,” which sounds like The Cars meet Tom Petty a little. ELO fans will appreciate the strings on the majestic “Off We Go” and the Beatlesque touches on “Inside Your Shoes.”
Another highlight “That’s When I Know” has a familiar rhythm and manages to go into some nice directions with it. The influences on this album are more ’70s soft rock-oriented than his past catalog, but Hux always manages to entertain. A very good album that pop music fans should embrace.
