by kickmesign, www.southofmainstream.com, 11.24.03

Artist: NOW is NOW (www.NOWisNOW.com)
Title: Transitions
Label: A Lot of Records
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

I was immediately struck by the richly emotive quality of this recording. The music and the vocals are ripe with well developed and tempered emotion...meaning the emotion is always at the right level. The music and vocals work together to create this deeply emotional listening experience.

The overall sound is one of a pop/rock flavor, with bits of folk and country layered in for a richly diverse, but extremely comfortable sound. The layered vocals shimmer in and around the brightness created by these talented musicians. You could be having an incredibly bad day, feeling like darkness had surrounded you completely and this album would manage to shed light on your gloom, even though the subject matter isn't silly or overly sunny. It's brightness comes from it's rich emotion.

Mitch Alden's vocals are mostly gentle, thoughtful and emotive, no matter the volume level of the individual track. They glide around the equally thoughtful lyrics. I'm always impressed with songs that are well written without falling prey to overindulgence. There's no preaching or pontificating, just warmth, honesty and beauty. Excellent backing vocals, both male and female, only add to an already wonderful listening experience.

To take each track and break it down into bits and pieces would serve no purpose in this instance. Though very well executed and quite technically sound, this is a recording that has merit above and beyond it's mechanics and technical proficiency. The superior pop rock base of this music is embellished with superb guitar sound - electric, slide, acoustic and hook. The vocals are this album's crowning achievement, the element that sets it apart from other good releases, making this release great.

(Note: The disc had one misstep that kept it from getting a perfect rating. The sixth track, "Heaven Helps" sounds forced and abrasive. It's too loud and modern for the rest of the disc and sounds like the mess the band Live has been making of their career over the last year or two. It doesn't fit in with the rest of the album and the vocals don't do justice to Alden's skills.)

This is an album that requires more than a cursory listen. This recording should be experienced, not simply heard. Experience Now Is Now today!

Favorite Tracks:
#2 | Into Darkness
#4 | Sail Away
#7 | Down


KickMeSign is a staff writer for www.southofmainstream.com.