Album Details

• Artist: Rick McGuire
• Album: Dust And Tears
• Label: Unsigned
• Year of Release: 2009
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: archelon on 2009-11-18

I think before any of you even put this album into your CD player, Mp3 player, computer or wherever, you should bear in mind that only two people contribute to the making of 'Dust and Tears'. There's obviously Rick McGuire himself, who takes on the vocals, guitar, bass, drums, producing, mixing, recording and engineering, and Donnie La Marca, who contributes keyboards, piano, strings, Hammond B-3 organ and "other cool sounds". I can hear your opinions forming as you read.

As it happens, you'd be wrong. Now I'll allow you to press play and listen to the complex, dense maze of sound that emnates from your speakers. There's no doubt this is something of an achievement for only two people, and the quality of the recording does it great justice. It's timeless, college-radio stuff with wide, expansive guitars and lots of open strumming - good, old-fashioned rock music.

Here's a list of adjectives for this album: Resonating, peripheral, subtle, caressing, catchy, soulful, full of storytelling. Just cobble these together as appropriate - there's certainly enough to like here. I also get the feeling that everyone will hear this differently - there are too many layers and delicacies not to. My favourite listen has to be the brooding 'Beauty In Lies', dark clouds hovering around the edges of this one... mmm. It can be a little basic, but who cares? It's nice. And everybody likes a bit of good honest nice every now and again.

User Reviews and Comments

on 2009-11-18 dscanland Said:

Great review Emmy! You've got me interested enough to try out Rick McGuire.
Not Rated