Reviewed by Brendan O'Regan

Sound quality on this one could be better, but veteran singer/songwriter McIntosh admits this upfront - his original masters were lost and these were digitised from an old cassette. However the songs, all original by McIntosh, are strong, even adult oriented in spots (even an s-word!) and performed with energy and commitment by McIntosh and a tight rock band. It certainly does have a late '70s/early '80s feel about it - I was reminded of The Byrds, Michael Nesmith, Crosby, Stills & Nash and even the occasional flash of Status Quo sounding rock. There are subtle religious references and imagery - "The Outcast" could be about Jesus, but that's left open. "The Visitor" is very likely about God ("I think I can love him/In a way I've never known"). There's certainly a strong social conscience in the album. "Hunger" is about poverty of circumstance and poverty of soul, while "Easy Street" is an almost John the Baptist-like indictment of society - it even breaks into prose, as if the poetry couldn't contain the intensity - "But where are all the friends of the unfortunate now?/Have they run to houses on secluded hillsides to hide from the discomfort of their past participation in the pain?". I'm not a fan of the spoken word in mid-song, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt here.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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