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The Fans: Reviews: Ian McDonald "Drivers Eyes"02.06.01

Ben QuonXX.XX.99
This is the best CD I've listened to all year! I've been listening to it over and over while driving and at home/work. A pleasant surprise from an artist that I've admired and followed over the years (King Crimson, McDonald And Giles, Foreigner, Steve Hackett). A very accessible, listenable, relaxing musical journey through the eyes of an extremely talented, gifted artist. The 45 minutes of music is made up of 3 mid-tempo rockers ("In Your Hands", "Saturday Night In Tokyo" and "Straight Back To You"), 4 power ballads ("You Are A Part Of Me", "Forever And Ever", "If I Was" and "Let There Be Light"), and 4 jazzy, new age-type instrumentals ("Overture", "Sax Fifth Avenue", "Hawaii" and "Demimonde"). My favorites were the power ballads. It was nice to hear again the voices of John Waite (The Babies), John Wetton (King Crimson, UK, Asia) and Gary Brooker (Procol Harum). The singers/players/songwriters on this album read like a "Who's Who" from the 60's - 80's rock scene: Messrs Waite, Wetton and Brooker; Lou Gramm (Foreigner); Peter Frampton; Steve Hackett (Genesis); Ian Lloyd (Stories); Michael Giles (King Crimson); G.E. Smith (Hall & Oates, SNL Band); Peter Sinfield (King Crimson); Hugh McCracken (session man with Gary Wright and Foreigner). My only quibble with this CD? There wasn't enough of it! Highly recommended! Ian, what took you so long?

Phoenix02.06.01
This album is like a diamond, precious in material and more than solid in quality, its lyrics are rich but not extensive, just the way I like them. Music on this CD is not as heavy (or as fast) as I usually prefer, however it has become one of my all-time favorites. The first few seconds of "Overture" are exactly what I expected from the whole CD, a combination of the style on "McDonald And Giles" and the sound of the latest King Crimson albums, but even when two songs give that same feeling through their full length ("Forever And Ever" and "Let There Be Light"), "Overture" turns into a bright, happy and even festive tune in only a couple of seconds and let you know what it is going to come on the rest of the album, happy and very enjoyable music. While "Straight Back To You" is similar to the progressive Foreigner of the early eighties, "In Your Hands" and "Saturday Night In Tokyo" are similar to the light rockers on the "Double Vision" and "Head Games" albums. My favorite songs are the ballads ("You Are A Part Of Me", "Forever And Ever", "If I Was" and "Let There Be Light") from where it'd be hard to choose only one as the best. Ian is not only a magnificent composer, but also a splendid performer, specially playing flute, and extraordinary example of this is "Forever And Ever". I highly recommend "Drivers Eyes", but do not expect to hear the Foreigner style on it.

The Fans: Reviews: Ian McDonald "Drivers Eyes"02.06.01
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