Kevin Wilson’s new debut solo CD, a 2-disc volume titled Self Portrait, has a palpable gravitas, which is a quality missing from most of the current mainstream releases. Though Wilson’s new double CD is not being released on a big label, the listener gets the impression Wilson is a throwback to the days when artists prided themselves on creating a singular work of art that represents their worldview and possesses an intangible personality of its own.
Wilson, unsurprisingly, has first hand knowledge of the struggles of the working musician through his long tenure as a heavy metal warrior in Florida, playing in bands such as Liar, Astaroth and Lucian Blaque. It seems Wilson has chosen this project, his first solo CD, to examine another facet of both himself and his music. It is an interesting gamble, since it is rare for an artist to make his debut with a double disc set, and even rarer still to present two disparate styles of music. Whether his metal-loving audience knows about his more folky side is anyone’s guess, but it would be somewhat of a rarity if fans of either genre totally embraced the music of the other, making Wilson’s decision to release his music this way quite interesting.
The first disc, entitled 9, begins with the acoustic rock anthem “On The Lake”, with vocals reminding one of Jon Bon Jovi. On this song (as well as all the others), all guitars are played by Wilson, who shows he is adept at playing both guitar and bass. The second song, “Winter In Paradise” is a moodier number beginning with some finger picked guitar and then turning into a smooth rocker with a progressive slant. Intricate percussion parts and a burning lead solo bring this song to life. “Scars” comes next and is a ballad, serving as a nice balance after two rockers. There are some strings on this cut that serve the song well, fleshing it out and adding a deeper dimension to Wilson’s composition.
“What If” breaks the tie between ballads and rockers by asserting itself as more of a mid-tempo ballad with a sing-song campfire feel to it. After this, the ballad “September Comes” features just vocals and acoustic guitar. “Pictures” then returns us to full band energy after an intro of furious strumming on the acoustic guitar. The final song is the first disc is “Words Outro” and is just a musical theme continuation of the previous song, featuring some soloing from Wilson.
The second disc, 6, begins with the Southern rocker “Whiskey” and features some of Wilson’s burning electric lead guitar work with a heavy metal edge. There’s a little bit of Hendrix feel to the next song, “16 Days” which features Wilson tearing it up again on guitar. “Hellhole” is another rocker featuring Wilson playing some of his dexterous lead guitar all over the song, and “Who Am I” follows in a much more doom-metal vein than the other songs. Continuing the progressively building metal thrust, “Angry Again” begins with heavy drums and grows into another metal-like rocker. Closing 6, “Tale Of Woe” delves deeper into metal textures, melding speed metal with hard rock. While the acoustic, folky side of Wilson is intriguing where the metal side is jarring, the fact he includes both of his musical personalities on a CD release is as daring as hell. The only other artists who might go to this extreme to bare their musical souls would be Prince and Lou Reed. While Wilson is not yet on their level, he is definitely channeling them in spirit.
While Wilson obviously brings a lot of talent to the table, there are two weaknesses to his Self Portrait. It is easy to hear the album was recorded fairly cheaply, betraying the low production values. With Wilson’s talents and scope of his songwriting, it is safe to day he would be able to sound much better when he gets his music recorded under better circumstances. The second weakness, unfortunately, is the songs themselves. While showing much talent in playing and arranging, the songs aren’t very memorable. It’s too bad because Wilson clearly has a vision for what he wants his music to sound like.
It seems as if the future holds a very interesting journey for both the artist and the listener, to say the least. Wilson is trying to articulate something here, and not just about his playing capabilities, but about his inner workings, his psyche. Whatever it is will no doubt be totally revealed by Wilson in his music on future releases.
Review by Scott Homewood
