home   site updates   review digest   reviews   featured artists   links   about us  
   
Description
Current concise reviews of the albums by adult alternative, contemporary, and crossover artists. Images of album artwork and links to both internet-based resources are always included. Click on the title to view the article.

Links
Digest Index
Current Digest
Instrumental Digest
 
Cry Wolf
Image © 2000\r\n\r\nB. McCallion Gild The Lily Music  
 

(16 July 2000) Bernadette McCallion is currently working on a retail-readyalbum but is currently shopping her six-track demo called Cry Wolf(Gild The Lily Music (USA), 2000) around. She is also offering a seventrack version of the recording as a Digital Audio Music CD at mp3.com. Additional pictures, reviews, airplay info, mp3s, lyrics and more can be found at Bernadette'smp3.comwebsite; you can also order the DAM there.

Represented by Jacobson and Colfin, this 28 year old singer-songwriter fromNew York has signed a publishing deal with DSM Producers and is a member ofASCAP as a writer and publisher. McCallion also writes instrumental music forfilm and television. In addition to being two-time semi-finalist in Musician Magazine's Best Unsigned Band Contest, her 1998 self-produced EP received positive crticial comments and independent airplay in North America. Priorto embarking on her solo career, she sang in a pop/goth band playing keyboard,guitar and singing and was featured on two of the band's commercially released albums.

On Cry Wolf, Bernadette McCallion provides lead and backing vocals andalso contributes guitar and piano parts. She posesses a powerful voice and expresses feelings behind the lyrics genuinely. McCallion is supported by John DiGiulio (drums, percussion), Rich Gaglia (bass, electric guitars and piano; co-producer) and Mark Corrigan (guitars) on the project. The music is classified as alternative but is certainly among the more accessible work we've heard. Lead vocal melodies are often supportedby lush backing harmonies and thick guitar-based arrangements. Percussion iscrisp and well produced. "Full Moon Course" and "House Of Straw" are two ofthe rocking tunes on the EP. Both are memorable in their construction and seriously sung lead vocals.

McCallion's ballad "Cry Wolf" has a sensitively sung lead vocal and layers of lovely backing vocal harmonies forming a striking contrast to the artist'smore rocking numbers. An allusion to Julee Cruise (as with Sun Palace above) is quite evident in this lovely track and the highlight of our EP.

"Angels, Etc." is richly arranged and like "White" is another rocker albeit with sparser-guidar ridden-instrumental arrangements and a slightly spoken lead vocal parts. An uncharacteristic orchestral texture develops as "White" concludes. The track "What About Love?" concluded our EP. Thick guitarinterplays with keyboards during the instrumental excursions while vocalsexplore a subtle melody. Vocal layers in the chorus are highly memorable.

Bernadette McCallion is continuing to build her reputation as a singersongwriter with tracks doing very well at mp3.com and other online sources.An established songwriter with a full length album around the corner, thisintroductory collection of recordings shows that a promising career is ahead. Worth exploration on the web and your compact disc player, theEP should be heard to appreciate the talent behind it. Worth a journeywe found it to be a nice listen!

 
 
last updated on: