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Malachi

Holy Music

(Fallout; US: 14 May 2007; UK: 7 May 2007)

Review [22.Aug.2007]

Taking the edge off some classic hits could be a double-edged sword, but Sexton Blake plays many of these songs with a passion that makes one think he’s sincere.  Whether it’s the Springsteen opener “Hungry Heart” that feels more like mellow California pop or the mainstream pop approach to Kim Carnes’ signature “Bette Davis Eyes”, Blake definitely sounds as if he’s right at home.  And how he warps and bends some of these tracks are surprisingly strong, especially the sappy “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” and the dour Supertramp gem “The Logical Song”.  Yet he inserts a totally different breath of fresh air into Erasure’s “Oh L’Amour”.  Hell, even Milli Vanilli’s “Girl You Know it’s True” comes up smelling like roses.  But perhaps the highlight here is The Dream Academy’s “Life in a Northern Town” which sounds as sweet as the original.

Rating:

Originally from Cape Breton, MacNeil is currently writing for the Toronto Sun as well as other publications, including All Music Guide, Billboard.com, NME.com, Country Standard Time, Skope Magazine, Chart Magazine, Glide, Ft. Myers Magazine and Celtic Heritage. A graduate of the University of King's College, MacNeil currently resides in Toronto. He has interviewed hundreds of acts ranging from Metallica and AC/DC to Daniel Lanois and Smokey Robinson. MacNeil (modestly referred to as King J to friends), a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan, has seen the Rolling Stones in a club setting, thereby knowing he will rest in peace at some point down the road. Oh, and he writes for PopMatters.com.


Tagged as: malachi | sexton blake
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