Reviewed by Chris Tozer

Dan Peek hit it big time way back in 1972 with soft rock combo America who had a massive single hit with "Horse With No Name". Second only to the Beatles in having a string of eight hit albums produced by Sir George Martin, the Grammy award winning band traded successfully on a sound akin to a mellow, mystic and multi-tracked Neil Young. Dan then suffered the common fate of musicians upon embracing the Faith. Uncomfortable with all the trappings of the mainstream music machine, he exchanged his place in America for a solo career in CCM. But, in the past quarter century he has only managed four albums of largely insipid material and a compilation - hardly an icon of shining consistency. Indeed, his fans have had to have more patience than those of Steely Dan's Donald Fagen whilst waiting nearly two decades for this new album with the unoriginal title of 'Guitar Man'. Whilst still very much rooted in his peak era (pun intended) the music has a harder edge to it than his other albums and has the energy level of a live performance. As far as this reviewer could make out, there is not a single reference to his faith unless you include his assertion in "Carry On" that only love can save him. On "The Hill" and "Sharkey's Song" there are delightful glimpses of the sound of his former band. Charm abounds on Dan's reworking of the Lovin' Spoonful's "Nashville Cats" but, taken as a whole, the album has little originality and his voice has insufficient strength to grab the attention of those who are unaware of his pedigree. Peek's website talks about "self-revelatory musical musings" but sadly they are largely lost on this avid fan of his original band.

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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