Colin Clyne - The Never Ending Pageant

Colin Clyne

The Never Ending Pageant
Fat Hippy Records; 2014

3.9 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Colin Clyne has too many achievements to mention but my personal favorite is that he opened for Red Hot Chilli Pipers. Besides winning multiple songwriting awards, getting sponsored, working with Grammy award winning engineers and getting constant airplay the guy just came out with a fine album entitled The Never Ending Pageant.

Right off the bat I would say this is one of the best-engineered albums I have had the opportunity to review. You can’t get this sound with a Presonus Preamp, a hundred dollar interface and computer. The material here is radio ready and indeed does deserves to be getting played on the radio. 

The music is acoustic based folk that synergizes with rock and country. On paper it doesn't sound that exciting but once it hits your ears I’m sure you will have a change of heart. The music's strongest appeal is the infectious energy that comes out from the speakers. I would argue that if you play this in a room full of people and you notice they don’t have a bit more pep in their step then you should immediately not talk to those people because they may be lacking a soul.

The highlights of the album for me were the ones that popped with optimism and joy. Possibly the best song of the album goes to the first one entitled “Merry Go Round”. Clyne proves he is a good, possibly great, vocalist who has a voice that soars across the music. “This Blue Town” and “Sizzle Not the Steak” were formidable songs but not quite as festive as “I’d Rather Do.” “I’d Rather Do” is a country-based song but Clyne sounds at home here. The guitar work is good but the song is held down by a walking bass line that creates a momentum. 

Even Clyne knows you can’t celebrate on every song and shows us on “Top of the Mountain” that his vocals sound good coated with a bit of melancholy. Orchestral strings, guitar and drums create music for him to sing on here. As the album progresses there are a couple of more highlights including “Toast the Happy Times” and “Playing God.” 

I will say that you have to be one cynical guy or gal to not enjoy at least a portion of this album. At eleven songs deep the album has a nice ebb and flow and takes little effort to enjoy. Highly Recommended.

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