Oh for something retro. This CD occupies a territory somewhere between 1970 and 1976 from a guy who sounds like Macca.

John Wilson has an interesting CV and it will come as no surprise that he played Paul McCartney in tribute band The Upbeat Beatles. That's the main base here: it's Macca lost somewhere in the abyss between Let It Be and let it be Wings.

Wilson also follows the R&B route (he was a member of the Average White Band for a brief period in the late eighties) and there are tinges of Frankie Miller, Paul Rodgers and any other bluesy brawling rocker you can think of, including - eek - Dennis Waterman.

Mixed in for good measure, some fairly soporific ballads like 'Rainbows And You' and 'Tell Me Something New'. 'Is This Love' - no, not the Whitesnake classic - takes us to the eighties and an arrangement so saccharine that it will make clenched teeth rot.

There is nothing intriniscally wrong with this CD, it's just that it is so blatantly derivative. If only Wilson could stop being a Macca soundalike, he has the tunes and the talent to be his own person.

Is there a market for this? Well I'm sure it will keep his mum, gran and big sister happy. Oh and one other thing, John, stop listening to your seventies vinyl. It's not healthy.

**½

Review by David Randall

24 Reasons
© 2006 Track Records. All rights reserved.

***** Out of this world | **** Pretty damn fine |
*** OK, approach with caution unless you are a fan |
** Instant bargain bin fodder | * Ugly. Just ugly