STYLE: Roots/Acoustic RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 81527-15605 LABEL: Signpost FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 1
Reviewed by Paul Keeble
That this is a live recording of one man, a guitar and a dash of modern technology makes it all the more remarkable, as it is hard to believe at times that everything you're hearing is all being played at once. No overdubs. Jacob makes creative use on several tracks of a JamMan looping device (also a part of Phil Keaggy's solo set-up) so he can have a number of guitar parts going at once, but there is a lot more to this album than modern digital trickery. We also have a very talented guitarist with a great voice and a writer of some excellent songs, though two of the standouts for me are the covers of Peter Gabriel's "Come Talk To Me" and - would you believe - "Subdivisions" by Rush (check out the video of this on YouTube). Of his own songs, "The Great Beyond" and "You've Got Soul" are both excellent, and "Hide And Seek" is an instrumental that showcases Jacob's guitar-playing as he solos over a series of bluesy loops - including a couple of phrases that could show an influence from fellow-Canadian Bruce Cockburn. However, the high point has got to be "Just Like You", a refreshing piece of worship that is the most overt statement of Jacob's Christian faith on the album, but also a great song. "It's just like you to bring light to my darkness/Just like you to be there when I need you/In all you do you bring glory to the Father/I want to be just like you." Sometimes live albums are a bit "you had to be there"; not this one. Recommended.
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