Some records are meticulously planned from the first note of the first song to the last note that finishes the record. Fleetwood Mac come to mind as a band whose leader (in most cases guitarist/songwriter Lindsey Buckingham) would plan everything out and strive for every note to sound perfect and for every song to be fastidiously constructed. The same for bands like Led Zeppelin and Foreigner, whose leaders (Jimmy Page and Mick Jones, respectively) toiled for weeks looking for the perfect guitar tone and drum sounds. Brian Wilson would be another example. And their records all sounded great and sold, for the most part, millions and millions every time a new one was released. Conversely, there are other artists such as The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, and Tom Petty (to name a few) who are famous for letting their musical magic happen organically. Songs spring from jam sessions and are laid down in one take, band members switch instruments because it feels right that way – and so on. For as many groundbreaking albums there have been that have been produced up the ass, there has been an equal amount of much-loved albums whose best moments are what has happened by accident that turned into something magical and of the moment. Can you say The Replacement, anyone? That band never planned anything – and almost every album captures rock and roll’s true spirit.

I get the feeling Stephen Luke belongs in the latter bunch, the bunch that produces music from the heart without a lot of kvetching about what goes here and what goes there. I could be wrong, as his new album does have a wonderfully guitar-crunchy roots rock sound that makes for great car driving music but I doubt it. For starters, the genesis of the album seems like a happy accident of its own, though it’s one born of misfortune. After playing drums and then guitar for many years in various bands, Luke put his music aside and devoted his life to raising his family. After almost slicing a finger off while cutting open a box, Luke took the advice of his doctor who said playing guitar would be good therapy. Returning to his instrument after several years, Luke decided he needed lessons. Enter Kelly Richey, who became his guitar teacher and eventually the producer of this album, not to mention also the lead guitarist and co-writer of many of the songs featured. During Luke’s lessons, seemingly all of the songs bottled inside him tumbled out and the two began making the album.

The first song No Man’s Land is a pretty sweet piece of roots pop with a nice big chorus that sounds radio ready, as does the production itself. Very strong song and a great cut to start an album off. Long Way From Home is the next song and it is kind of a funkier, jazzier number with some seductive female vocals and almost a rumba beat going on that makes it seem very bluesy. Great wah-wah guitar solo spicing it up. Again, very good stuff and a great sign for this CD. More of a moody rocker for the third cut, Love Is, which is mid-tempo and has very deliberate, great acoustic guitar work punctuating the proceedings. It has a definite Stonesy romp to it. Powered By Love is a slower tune, more heartfelt and containing a lot of female backing vocals, which are starting to become more prevalent as the album goes on. The song seems like it would make a great soft-rock hit and reminds me of the ’70’s band America, but not in the vocals per se, just in the general moos of the song. The fifth song, I Must Be Dreamin’, sticks with the general mood of the last few cuts in that it features a slower tempo and it pretty much a straight ahead gritty rocker with some burning lead guitar work from Kelly Richey, who shares guitar duties on this album with Luke. Santa Ana Winds slows the proceedings even more and is closer to a traditional ballad than the other songs. This cut also has more of the burning, Claptonesque lead guitar solos. This CD is turning into a guitar player’s album, not like in a Joe Satriani or Eric Johnson way, but in the fact the guitar is very prominently featured and does all the solo work. The rock returns with Hurricane, which just happens to be a raging rocker with some bristling guitar and the rhythm section of David Clawson on drums and Michael Scharfe on bass throttling up the heebie jeebies into a full force gale of thunderous rawk. Angels returns the album to the mid-tempo rut that it was kind of stuck in and up to now, there hasn’t been really enough rockers. Luke sounds intense when he sings and seemingly wants everything he sings about to be weighty and be taken seriously but in order to be taken seriously and sound meaningful, you have to make the songs sound special and having a run of them in a row often dilutes them until you feel like you’re hearing one long song instead of several individual ones. I would have spaced a couple more rockers amongst these slower numbers. Do You Bleed is a more countryish song, again with a mid tempo gait and features female vocals by Andrea Summer quite prominently. The last song, The Devil Won’t Win Twice, is an acoustic blues number with some dobra picking and would be a great closer for the album but the string of slow numbers has worn on by now and this album should have had a kick ass finish considering all of the slower songs. Not a bad song, but the album seems to end with a whimper instead of the bang it could have if the songs were sequenced better and there was more variance of tempo.

All in all, a decent record here, though definitely not a perfect one. And while Luke might give his all for his music I have a feeling Luke doesn’t mind having some of the spontaneity and warts-and-all type stuff showing up on his album. Luke sings and plays and writes from the heart and you can tell immediately. It’s not something that has to be wondered about as it jumps out of the speakers at you from the first note. This is a man who is thrilled at playing music again and is bubbling over with things to say and interesting ways to say them. While he will need another album or two to really find his footing, this is an excellent start and this CD makes me very interested in hearing his next one, and that’s the point, isn’t it?

Reviewed By Scott Homewood

admin Reviews, Scott Homewood No Man's Land, Stephen Luke