I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: give me a CD that has
\ncatchy melodies amd intelligent lyrics and I am a happy person.
\nThat said,
\nStanding On The Shoulders Of Giants<\/i>, the new release by
\nsinger\/songwriter Bill Lloyd has made me a very happy person.<\/p>\n
Lloyd is mostly known by country music fans as part of the duo
\nFoster and Lloyd, which had a few hits in the late 1980’s, but as a
\nsolo artist, he writes pop-oriented tunes. His previous CD,
\nSet To Pop<\/i>, was a wonderful entry to the pop-rock genre, and
\nthis new one just might be even better because it has a fuller,
\nmore dynamic sound without sacrificing excellent songcraft.<\/p>\n
Lloyd wears his Beatles influence on his sleeve, and as a big
\nBeatles fan myself, I knew I’d love any CD that has a song called
\n“Turn Me On Dead Man”. (For those unfamiliar with Beatles folklore,
\nthat is the phrase you are supposed to hear if you play “Revolution
\n#9” backwards). This song combines a great psychedelic drenched
\nsound with clever wordplay that recalls the pop band Squeeze.<\/p>\n
Another Beatlesque song is “Dr. Robert’s Second Opinion”, a
\nsequel to the Beatles “Dr. Robert” where the title character seems
\nto regret the trouble he had caused all those years ago.There are
\nother more subtle Beatlesque touches elsewhere in the form of
\nguitar riffs, but this is more than just a tribute CD.<\/p>\n
“Cool And Gone” has to be my favorite song this year as it is a
\nrefreshing take on lost love. Here Lloyd continues his songwriting
\npartnership with David Surface, who together wrote some pretty
\nnifty tunes on
\nSet To Pop<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Other highlights are the rousing title tune, the eccentric
\nbutcatchy “Box Of Snakes”, and two gorgeous midtempo ballads “So
\nYou Won’t Have To” and “Years Away From Here”. The last three songs
\nare at the end of this collection, giving
\nStanding On The Shoulders Of Giants<\/i> a second wind that is so
\nrare on any CD.<\/p>\n
Lloyd manages to work with some great talent. As on
\nSet To Pop<\/i>, he collaborates with another pop genius,
\nMarshall Crenshaw, on the melodic winner “Holding Back The
\nWaterfall”. Also scattered on the CD are Smithereens drummer Dennis
\nDiken, Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson, and classic rock organist
\nAl Kooper. And if Kim Richey, Amy Rigby, and Greg Trooper aren’t
\nexactly giants, they should be as they have all come out some very
\ngood CDs in their own right.<\/p>\n
\nStanding On The Shoulders Of Giants<\/i> is a great collection of
\nsongs that are immediately appealing, taking the best from the past
\nand creating something inspiring. Pick up this CD and you will be
\nstanding…well you know where.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":27705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7444],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-39083","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-bill-lloyd","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39083"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}