Reviewed by Paul Knab

This band from Northern Ireland have been gigging with various line ups for many a long year. And it's taken CR a good while to review this 2005 album. The opening bars are reminiscent of Delirious? 'Mezzanine Floor' but this is a far cry from the d boys. The album plays out 14 tracks of rock/pop. The current Clay seem well accomplished but the arrangements are just too similar, falling into samey pop rock. There are some catching jangly guitar moments with the tracks "If I Fall" and "High" but as with most of the album, the vocals at times become too intense, spoiling the enjoyment of the song. The latter half of the album creates more space to appreciate the production, although there is a weird moment with the intro of "Chains" which has you wonder whether the band are about to break into the 'Osmonds' "Crazy Horses". A few tracks relax enough to stand out, including the acoustic guitar-driven "Don't Know How" and "Not Alone". "Find Me Here" is a tuneful melody giving a passionate plea of Jesus asking to be let in to your heart and vocally it's better. Overall this is not a bad album but I just couldn't find enough space in the music to fully enjoy it.

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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