Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

The British CCM scene has its fair share of struggling musos pootling away in their back bedrooms making low budget recordings and dreaming of discovery. Mostly the results sound muggy so it's a joy when something a bit special turns up on the doormat. Neville Raine's album may be low budget but that doesn't mean low quality. 'Heaven To Hollywood' features 10 songs where the former Big Picture bassist does everything - he writes, produces and plays all the instruments. Okay, so he's not Prince but musically he holds his own proving to be a decent lead guitarist and bassist. To give you a musical peg to hang this on, when he's rocking out he sometimes sounds a bit like Bryan Adams and when he's being mellow he's reminiscent of Billy Joel. The arrangements of the songs grab attention; I particularly liked "Big Little Word" and overall this is a good effort in a singer songwriter mould. There's no urban beats, raps or any of that malarky, just melodious pop rock, well conceived and well delivered within the confines of budget and definitely no mugginess! The album's closer "Perfect Love" is a poignant standout ballad bringing the album to a perfect close. Nev, you've definitely got something good here. Keep going.

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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