After the record setting sales of his greatest hits album, the former Cockeyed Ghost frontman returns with a 2 disc musical journey. In some ways it is like a parallel of Stew’s Passing Strange, a personal saga of dreams shot to hell and a redemption through unfailing hope and faith. This certainly is Adam at his most lyrically engaging and musically complex. Starting with “Standing In Chicago” it’s a soul ballad that smacks of nostalgic memories, and it all leads to the gorgeous Beach Boys vocal harmonies on “Who.” Starting his road trip with the cocky bravado of “Burn Down The World” it takes many musical turns. The songs progress like a very much like a rock opera, and it’s not all power pop as it ventures into all genres from new wave disco (“I Don’t Wanna Dance With You”) to funk (“Two Children In A Bed”) and everything in between. My favorite incarnation of Marsland is the defiant guitarist, and it comes across on “1 in 4” and the Replacements styled “This Is Hard.” The ballads are also top notch, his duets with Evie Sands/Teresa Cowles and piano melody makes “Go West” one of his best. Lots of highlights, another being the mid-tempo gem “Fade Away” with compelling harmonies and key changes. When you get the amazing “No Return,” a song with only scant keyboards and harmonic choral vocals you will realize just how much Adam has learned since his more recent days with The Beach Boys and Hal Blaine’s wrecking crew. The keys and guitar work on “Despair” will remind you that this is probably the closest anyone will get to a modern era version of Todd Rundgren’s Something/Anything double LP. It is also important to note the good stuff is not stuffed on one disc or another, but rather spread throughout, which is why listening to the entire set (23 tracks) at once can be challenging in today’s ADD world. But you have to give props to this an unassuming album full of emotional depth and masterful musicianship.
