Welcome to the EvO:R Independent CD Reviews Section.
I would like to take a few minutes to introduce ourselves to everyone. The EvO:R review section features reviews from various independent musicians that submit material for our consideration.

I wanted to let you know a little about our review teams collective thoughts on music. It's important to let the people that we review know how we think of their music and how we listened to their creations.

First of all, we strongly believe that if your music stinks then the world should know about it! After all, you have the nerve to charge as much for your stuff as the majors do so it better be pretty damn good. If your material is good, we'll be glad to tell the world. I We will hold nothing back! That is a promise.
The EvO:R CD Review Team

Brian Linne's long-in-the-making musical debut has a vibe straight out of singer-songwriter's handbook. Perhaps it is his Neil Diamond-like voice.

I, personally, can’t listen to an entire record like this. It’s nothing against the artist or the skill that these players have, but it is far too happy for me. So my review will be a bit opinionated.

The lyrical content is primarily Christian based –so I am assuming this is a Christian artist, although, the stated genre is Easy Listening/Soft Rock. I don’t hear this at all. It’s a Neal Diamond sound alike who sings about God and Christian ideals –absolutely nothing wrong with that. But if Brian Linne really wants true success at this, he should change his genre to Christian. There is a huge market for it and there really are a lot of money making opportunities through that pedigree.

My complaint is -my idea of music as a ‘reflection of life’ (as this artist implies about his own music) would be much more balanced than this. There is just as much sorrow in life as there is joy. I am a Christian but my take on it is that we are supposed to experience both sides to learn and grow. I really wouldn’t be so harsh if the artist had billed this record as a happy, happy, joy, joy fest.

Ok –so much for my opinion. The musicianship is excellent, especially, saxophonist, Dave Kujat. The song writing is average but the performance is stellar. On the down side –the type of beats used are so similar on every song, it never seems to change. That’s why I turned it off. I didn’t get to the second half of the disc because I got bored, which happens to me about once in a decade. So there you have it.

The production is good but a bit too much reverb for my taste. It sounds like the tracks were recorded in a nice clean room. So there just doesn’t seem to be the need for that much verb. The dynamics get to flat sounding. I do think Christian folks who attend those huge churches would absolutely dig this stuff. I also think fans of Neal Diamond and maybe Lee Greenwood would enjoy this disc.

Song Samples from the CD
All song samples are from the Brian Linne Band page on CD Baby.

 Come Back To Me/   God Grant Me/   Guiding Light/   Let Your Love Rain Down /   Little Spell/   Live For Today/   Never Mind Time/   Paradise Discovered/   San Diego Light/   Thank You/   Uniqueness In Me/   Winds Of Life- Angel/ 

Conclusion:

Honesty is the best policy- so I have to break this up a bit. Production gets a B+, Musicianship - A, Songwriting -C+, Creativity -C-. So even though this record wanted to make me stick a finger down my throat, it is still worthy of a B-.

Jimmy Caterine...EvO:R Reviewer.

The EvO:R CD Reviews Home Page

About the reviewer- Jimmy Caterine has numerous album credits to his name. He is most noted as founder, guitarist and co-writer for 80’s metal quartet, Sacred Rite (Capitol Records.) He has worked with top name professionals in the industry. This would include Grammy Award winning producer Sonny Limbo (Bertie Higgins) and publishing coordinator Randall Wixen (Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Brown.)

Aside from his original projects he did a 3 month stint playing guitar for the live stage production of Rocky Horror Picture Show in 1987. He was the guitarist for MGM recording artist and power house vocalist, Sami Jo Cole (Tell Me a Lie) in 1995. He has also played with classic rock tribute act Time Machine, on the Las Vegas convention circuit in ’97 and ’98.

Following a car accident in 2001 Jimmy Caterine took a break from performing. He was reluctant to return to the stage due to PTSD. In the years that followed Jimmy took an inward journey to confront his own personal demons. While away he had to come to terms with the many changes in the music industry. During his hiatus he created and released two independent solo CD’s.

In 2007 Jimmy recorded and released a reunion CD with Sacred Rite. Currently Jimmy owns Soulaire Sound which is a mobile recording/live sound reinforcement company in Phoenix, AZ. He performs regularly with his organic jazz sextet, Dream Chemistry.

If you’d like to know more about Jimmy Caterine you can visit the following web sites: