The scathing, fuzz drenched rhythm guitar surge of Bleu's "I Won't Go Hollywood" at first seems out of place. But just as you've sunk into the cool atmosphere Riabko has set up, the album makes a totally incongruous shift in attitude. Kyle Riabko jumps in with the blues, reggae, and shuffle jazz intonations of "Waiting," another mellow song that is captivating for it's unabashed honesty, realness, and absence of slick pretense. It's like the advent of Soft Rock all over again.
Mellow super group The Thorns do their best CS&N-meets-the Traveling Wilburys-with a bit of Chicago-and-Toto-thrown in for good measure on "Blue," yet another ultra mellow and unassuming tune. The twang induced chorus is pretty cool, as well. Alice Peacock steps in with the next inclusion, the wonderfully country tinged "Leading With My Heart." To date on the album, it's the most sincere sounding effort, Peacock's voice pleasant and engaging over the simplistic guitar and laidback rhythmic backdrop. Wade's voice likewise gets trapped in the genre blend, being simultaneously scratching and plaintive. Another newcomer named Jason Wade kicks in with his mellow "Days Go By." Again the music falls victim to the ACR motifs of over produced acoustic guitars, generic bass riffage and solid drumming. It's catchy, sure, but it's also rather innocuous in a way. The singer/songwriter motif continues with Five For Fighting's (which is predominantly John Ondrasik) "Something About You." The song fits in perfectly with the previous inclusion from Mayer, as both singers share a similar vocal styling and the music is pretty similar (guitar, mellow drums, loping bass), falling into the stereotypical adult contemporary rock vein with almost too much ease. His smoky voice brings to mind Dave Matthews after drinking honey lemon tea and the music almost sounds like DMB lite (except for the piano, which lends the track a more maudlin vibe). The big guns continue to be drawn as John Mayer's 2001 hit "Back To You" fills the adjoining track slot. While not as edgy as her classic material from the late '80s, the song is a perfect fit amongst the other adult rock oriented tracks on the album and is an uber slick, yet regrettably catchy love song with the almost trite ("why can't I breathe whenever I think about you…") yet cool lyrical chorus.
The venerable queen of modern rock, Liz Phair, allowed "Why Can't I?" from her 2003 release Liz Phair. Delivered in summertime, mock hip-hop stylee, the song is the kind of disposable pop smear that sounds good going in the ears, but will ultimately be forgotten once the last note has faded away. The mood shifts slightly when newcomers Soul Kid #1 drop "More Bounce In California." The song is dominated by a melodic refrain that sounds influenced by Santana's version of "Oye Como Vas" and Smashmouth's "Walking On The Sun," which means that it's familiarly catchy.
The floating vocals almost sound as if they could accompany a theme song from a long forgotten Neil Simon film. This similar vibe continues with Wheat's contribution, "Some Days," which has been culled from their 2003 album Per Second, Per Second, Per Second…Every Second. Husband and wife pop duo Wilshire clock in next with the sparklingly clean pop ditty "Special." It's got that generic kind of country-meets-mellow rock vibe to it, as snappy drums keep the beat and slick notes are gently coaxed from the strings of acoustic guitars, all the while Lori Wilshire croons and moon with earnestness. The album commences with the Scott Humphrey Remix of BT's shimmering dance floor ditty "Superfabulous." Electronically treated vocals bounce and careen over an incredibly up-tempo beat propelled by burbling synth notes and augmented by a smoky, sensual female vocalist.
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