Reviewed by Elliot Rose

"We are in a warzone. . . it is a spiritual war. . . Prepare. . ." are the words of this award winning singer/songwriter and producer in the build-up to this, his fourth solo album. The American musician certainly states his case confidently, packing in tons of explosion and gunfire sound effects into his opening track "100 Out Of 100 Times", whose eerie ambience and lyrics are backed up by a quirky piano motif, setting the bar high for the album's remaining 10 tracks. The disc isn't all doom and gloom though, the next number "Contradiction" is surprisingly boppy, and the more passionate "Closer To Heaven" has arguably the catchiest melody on the album. The highlight for me however is the gritty "Take Back What I've Done" (Dave Eggar making an invaluable contribution with the string arrangement), and John's skill as a musician has to be commended - playing the majority of the instruments himself at a high standard, we can forgive the odd weak vocal.

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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