Reviewed by Tim Holden

Irish rock singer/songwriter Howard has been creating music for a long time, both in his homeland and around the Mediterranean. 'Outside The Pale' is a self-produced collection of original rock/pop songs very much in the vein of the New Jersey sound of Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Dukes. The arrangements and production are good, though there are some points where the synth sounds are not quite up to the job and do grate a bit, particularly where they are pretending to be a string section. The same can be said of the lyrics which get a bit weak and thin at points and only give a vague hint of faith if you look really hard. There is no mention of God anywhere which is a shame as the subjects covered give loads of scope to show that God does have an answer.

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