Scott Grant follows the great tradition of those 70’s rockers, and gives us a pretty impressive debut album. Opening with the acoustic strum and shuffling melody of “Dream Away” it’s got a good hook in the chorus and a desending bridge that leads to a brilliant coda with “do do do” harmonies at the fade out. Then a baroque harpsichord opens up “Just Like We Do,” a piano melody similar to the style of Emmit Rhodes emerges, with its gorgeous Beatlesque overtones.
The organ and rhythmic funk of “What You See Is What You Get” recalls Lenny Kravitz “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over,” Grant does a decent job though his vocal strains a bit here. After these gems the albums settles down a bit. It’s fun to play “spot the influence,” but the ballads don’t really stick with you. Grant’s voice is better suited to the soulful “Sonic For You,” a good mix of Peter Chris and Steve Forbert. Towards the albums last few tracks, starting with “Nevermind” it brings to mind a Hendrix ballad and “Sunshine Serenade” is a blast with John Bonham drum beats and the great fuzz guitars a la Kravitz “Let Love Rule”. Our dramatic finish to the album, “Halcyon Days” and “Hold On” starts quite but slowly becomes a layered orchestration along the lines of Derek & The Dominos “Layla.” It’s all admittedly derivative, but fans of classic 70’s rock will still love this.
