• Artist: James LaBrie
• Flags: Lyrics are included with the album
• Rating:

Review

With this 2001 release, Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie follows up his relatively successful 1999 solo effort, Keep It to Yourself. Once again, the vocalist garners support from guitarist Mike Keneally -- along with Magna Carta's roster keyboardist, Trent Gardner, and others -- for this progressive/hard rock outing brought by the band known as Mullmuzzler. As one might expect, LaBrie delivers the goods in a rather powerful and at times commanding fashion amid the band's often-thunderous rhythms, scorching guitars, and textural synths. Essentially, LaBrie projects his voice rather well atop a series of straight-four rockers, odd-metered excursions, and keyboardist Matt Guillory's delicately rendered motifs, whether performing on acoustic piano or electric keys. Thus, soloing is kept to a minimum here, yet midway through this production a sense of invariability hovers over the proceedings, largely due to the unwavering flow and disproportionate similarities of these compositions. However, the band does eventually deviate from the plan a bit, as they delve into acoustic/electric interludes in conjunction with LaBrie's heartfelt balladry and some memorably melodic hooks provided by Guillory. Otherwise, it may be prudent to suggest that the final moments do not compensate for a lack of strong material. ~ Glenn Astarita, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	iTunes	Composers	Performers	Time
Afterlife		James LaBrie	James LaBrie	(5:21)
Venice Burning		James LaBrie, Carl Cadden-James, Gary Wehrkamp	James LaBrie	(6:26)
Confronting the Devil		James LaBrie, Carl Cadden-James, Gary Wehrkamp	James LaBrie	(6:20)
Falling		James LaBrie	James LaBrie	(3:52)
Stranger		James LaBrie	James LaBrie	(6:32)
A Simple Man		James LaBrie	James LaBrie	(5:20)
Save Me		James LaBrie	James LaBrie	(4:11)
Believe		James LaBrie	James LaBrie	(5:00)
Listening		James LaBrie	James LaBrie	(4:14)
Tell Me		James LaBrie	James LaBrie	(5:14)

Credits

Bryan Beller (Bass), James LaBrie (Vocals), James LaBrie (Producer), James LaBrie (Main Performer), Mike Mangini (Drums), Victor Florencia (Mixing), Dave McKean (Design), Dave McKean (Illustrations), Tom Waltz (Drum Recordings), Trent Gardner (Keyboards), Trent Gardner (Spoken Word), Jim Brick (Mastering), Matt Guillory (Piano), Matt Guillory (Keyboards), Matt Guillory (Sampling), Michael Borkosky (Guitar), Johnny Freeman (Engineer)