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Edwin McCain struck gold with his 1997 release, Misguided Roses, which sold half a million copies and spawned the Dawson's Creek-driven hit single "I'll Be," so he's probably earned the right to think big. That's what he does on Messenger, attacking his new set of songs with fleshed-out arrangements, several of which involve string sections and horns. Fans of McCain's more stripped-down fare will be disappointed by his rather bold-faced move toward the middle of the road, the most egregious example being the Diane Warren-penned ballad "I Could Not Ask for More," which is typically syrupy and overwrought. McCain's acoustic-driven "Ghosts of Jackson Square" is more on target, as is the soulful "Wish on the World" and the bouncy "Beautiful Life." Fans of "I'll Be" will enjoy hearing it again here, this time in a hushed vocals-guitar-sax version that's even more direct and affecting than the original. --Daniel Durchholz
Track Listing:
1.
Beautiful Life
2.
Promise of You
3.
Ghosts of Jackson Square
4.
I Could Not Ask for More - Edwin McCain, Warren, Diane
5.
Do Your Thing
6.
Prayer to St. Peter - Edwin McCain,
7.
Go Be Young
8.
Anything Good About Me
9.
I'll Be
10.
Sign on the Door
11.
See Off This Mountain
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Overacting on a major scaleSep 18, 2008 To put it mildly, this CD is pretty bad. The production however is quite good - the mixing and mastering and sonic qualities are very good. Too bad they had such drivel to work with. This guy is for music what evening TV actors are for acting. Awful. You know when you see someone over-acting so much it is almost laughable? That's what this guy does when he sings. He is so full of his overblown self importance and "I'm so deep and spent so much time calculating how to express my inner emotions" - it is excruciating. And it is phony. Small surprise that his music is sometimes used on TV shows.
I kept thinking it was gonna get better, but it only got worse. Then it got to "I'll Be" which, well, the single studio version was . . . well . . . it was what it was, it wasn't bad so much as overplayed, the kind of song that is harmlessly poignant. But on this CD we get the "live" version and McCain just butchers it with awful overacting with the phony emotion he forces down the listeners ear canals. It would actually be rather comical if he wasn't so serious about it.
Seriously, this CD is like prime time TV, stay away and you'll be the better for it. I give it 2 Stars because of the very good engineering and mastering, the only redeeming qualities of this CD.
Good CD!Jul 08, 2008 Why Edwin McCain never really hit it big, I'll never know!
All his songs are well sung and he has had several big hits!
Good all around cd!
Reviewed by DiannaMar 10, 2008 This album has held me and sung me to sleep on many lonely nights. My husband is a Navy SEAL, and we have lost a lot of friends in the war. My husband and I both agree that if he dies in combat, his funeral song will be "Prayer to St. Peter". I hope we never have to use it for that purpose.
3 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Proving the Indie Rock Movement can be a Commercial SuccessAug 30, 2005 The 1990s music landscape saw Alternative Rock begin to basically become part of the mainstream music fold. However, Alternative Rock also began to produce many other off-shoots. This was because there was a perception that groups such as "Nirvana" and "Gin Blossoms" would "sell out" to commercial culture. As a result, a sub-movement within Alternative Rock began to form called "Indie Rock". The "Indie" stands for independent. It is a style of music that often covers a wide variety of genres, often working on independent record labels, but most importantly the artist maintains complete control of the music and their careers. However as Indie Rock stars gained popularity, even this term began to blur a bit. One artist who rose to popularity in the Indie Rock movement was Edwin McCain. Edwin McCain's second album "Misguided Roses" produced one of the biggest hits of 1997 and 1998 called "I'll Be". While I always felt that this was an overrated song, it did give McCain's career the boost it needed. While McCain's commercial success might have put his "Indie Rock" status in question, his style would still remain true to the "Indie Rock" roots. It would be McCain's third album, "Messenger" that would show his "Indie Rock" roots. Surprisingly, this album didn't garner the critical acclaim that I would have expected.
As mentioned, a key facet to the "Indie Rock" movement is maintaining complete control of the music - in other words, doing things your own way. For the most part, with McCain, this is not an issue. The sound on "Messenger" by McCain is as "Coffee House" as you can get. There is a lot of use of acoustic (even if it is electric acoustic) guitars. McCain supplements this sound very nicely with the use of saxophones and horns. He also makes a stronger use of drums and percussions than most "Coffee House" style artists.
McCain is also one very talented songwriter. As for doing things "his own way", this is very evident on "Messenger". McCain penned 11 of the 12 tracks. One might give him some criticism for using a song ("I Could Not Ask For More") written by a very "commercial songwriter" like Diane Warren, but McCain puts his own spin on that track. After all, part of Indie Rock is doing things your own way - and that is very evident on that track.
McCain's songwriting includes a wide variety of topics. Most notably, McCain's spirituality surfaces in the song "A Prayer to St. Peter". This is an acoustic sounding song that I'm shocked didn't garner more attention on the Christian Contemporary circuit. While McCain does include other spiritual/religious references on "Messenger" (such as "Ghost of Jackson Square", "Sign on the Door", "Beautiful Life", and even on Warren's "I Could Not Ask For More"). I would say it's safe to say that McCain is a Christian influenced musician. McCain also sings on other topics - such as a tribute to his grandmother ("See Off This Mountain"); Alcoholism ("Sign on the Door" and "Go Be Young"); and of course love and romance ("Wish In This World", "Promise of You", I'll Be")
As far as McCain's songwriting goes, it is his use of metaphors that really hits home. While I did feel "I'll Be" was an overrated song, this was a song that did use metaphors very well (i.e. "Emeralds from mountains thrust from the sky", "Rain falls angry on the tin roof"). McCain carries this trademark over to "Messenger". This is seen on several tracks such as: "Wish in this World" ("Running to grass so green; Dangerous road, but it's not going to change"); "Ghost of Jackson Square" ("But fall from the height; my personal ledges; afraid to look down; my crepe paper bridges; enough water to drawn"); "Prayer to St. Peter" ("The taste of summer; and a ripened pear; and girls sweet as meadow wind"); and Sign on the Door ("With a Sign on the Door; Saying sorry we're closed").
Throughout the album, the balance between McCain's haunting vocals and the outstanding work done by his band are really done well. There isn't a bad track on this collection. Perhaps the best example of the balance between the vocals and band work is on "Go Be Young". This song got a lot of airplay and deserved it - it is the best track on the album. "I Could Not Ask for More" also get some attention as well - and also well deserved. There are many other tracks that I'm surprised didn't garner more airplay or attention - such as "Wish In This World", "Beautiful Life", "Prayer to St. Peter", "Ghosts of Jackson Square", and "Do Your Thing". "Sign on the Door" is another standout track that takes on almost a gospel-like feel toward the end of the track.
My only criticism of "Messenger" is the inclusion of the "acoustic" version "I'll Be". I almost feel that this was included to capitalize on the big success of "I'll Be". Ok, it was a popular song and there may be a market to hear a more "acoustic" sound, but I think this would have been better suited for a greatest hits album. I had mentioned that McCain did things his own way "for the most part". Perhaps the record company put some pressure to include this. While you can say this violates the spirit of the Indie Rock movement, you can also say that perhaps McCain wanted to include this - and did things his own way.
The liner notes contain all of the lyrics to all of the songs as well as the musician and production credits. While "Messenger" would be a commercial success, that would be the last album that McCain would have commercial success. McCain would return to his Indie roots of touring and word of mouth music. But "Messenger" proved that Indie Music can be good even it does sell well. Highly recommended.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
A BEST EVERAug 29, 2005 This is simply one of my top 20 favorite CD's of all-time. I'm 40 years old, and have heard a lot of 'albums' and trust me, this one is right in there.
If you like Edwin at all, you will love this album.
![Messenger [ENHANCED CD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41BWFNZW3PL._SL200_.jpg "Messenger [ENHANCED CD]")
based on 81 reviews
