Audio CD review:
David Wilcox - Underneath

David Wilcox - Underneath

Band: David Wilcox Title: Underneath Rating: Release Date: 23 February, 1999 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Underneath 2: Never Enough 3: Down Here 4: Spirit Wind 5: Prisoner Of War 6: Hometown 7: All My Life 8: Guilty Either Way 9: Leaving You 10: Young Man Dies 11: Slipping Through My Fist 12: Home Within Your Heart 13: Sex And Music

Editoral Review His seventh album pursues the quasi-spiritualist and anticonsumerist homilies of his previous work, without extending his artistic range much beyond some gussied-up rock arrangements and the failed trip-folk of "Sex and Music. Though based in North Carolina, David Wilcox shares much with the New England folk mafia of John Gorka and Dar Williams. " Wilcox is at his best with romantic ballads such as "Home Within Your Heart," with its plain-spoken opening, "Too tired to sleep, too angry to pray / Too far down to get back up, too lost to find my way. " But the fatal flaw here lies in the tone: Wilcox's social commentary grows preachy and cloyingly earnest, undercutting his melodic sophistication and tasteful acoustic arrangements. Fans of Wilcox will likely love this consistent, true-to-folk effort, but ultimately Wilcox is singing to the choir. --Roy Kasten .. You can see a complete list of all David Wilcox discography, or go back to the David Wilcox tabs