The Jeff Pryor Band
Teze Records, 2002
by Jerry Rabushka
It's that kind of romantic drivel that we all want as part of our lives and gives too many women higher expectations of men than they can ever live up to. (Okay, they can, really! But will they?) He's romantic, he's sensitive, he's even sorry on occasion! Loverland, by The Jeff Pryor band, is a solid pop-rock exploration of issues facing heterosexual relationships. It's based largely on Jeff's personal experiences of losing one love and finding fulfillment in a new one.
Pryor, a guitarist and singer/songwriter, has played the Southern California club circuit for about 20 years, and often fans lined up around the block to hear him play. Now he's on his own album, Loverland, recorded with a band of Joey Bowen on lead vocals, plus Stephen Bruton, David Paich, Simon Phillips, and Leland Sklar.
"Each guy made a unique and essential contribution that helped create the sound we were striving for," says Jeff. "We went old school and recorded all together as a band for two weeks, live in the studio, with virtually no overdubs." That's cool, since it sounds pretty tight and well balanced.
It's a clean sound, familiar, not really a "new" sound; probably more for a 30-50 year old mindset than the 20-30's crowd. There are fourteen songs on here; the songs at the beginning, to my ear, are catchier and more original than the songs towards the end. Lyrics throughout tend toward clich more often that is comfortable, because if I'm going to hear about love for an hour, I want some insight. Some of the guitar licks and fill-ins have the same been-there-heard-that problem.
Standout songs are "Raining Love" and "Forever True," mature ballads whose music does a good job reaching into the heart. The guitar picking on "Raining" provides its memorable quality.
Pryor seems to like laying down a reggae-beach sound on occasion as well, for instance in songs such as "Turn Around" and "Into The Night." Probably helps cool down the evening in a Southern California bar.
So, if you like this kind of everyman-pop, you want to let the emotions dream a bit, and you're looking for a new name up on the CD shelf, here ya go.
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