The main selling point for this band before I heard their album was that it was produced by Aaron Sprinkle, formerly of Poor Old Lu. Naturally, this raised my expectations, but the finished album is well below my standards.
Red Shoed Star's music is best described as a mix of modern rock and alternative, to my ears sounding at times like Blues Traveler and at others like Dear Ephesus. The opening track, "Take Me Away," is a near-perfect Dear Ephesus clone, while the second, third, and fourth tracks all sound like Blues Traveler, Poor Old Lu, and Dear Ephesus, respectively. The vocals overall seem weak, often lost in the mix and poorly executed when out in the open. Throughout the album it sounds like the lead singer is trying to emulate many different singers, without success.
Lyrically, the band is on stable ground, with songs about selfishness, people being slaves to time, and girlfriends. Here are the lyrics to "The Richest Bum":
Blind men hide in shopping malls
Staring at the freedom they don't have
Babies cry in wooden walls
Behind the bars that keep toys
From their grasp
Where do all these things come from
Am I supposed to understand
Why am I the richest bum
It's only in God's hands
A man comes home from work one night
His wife is there but she's gone it seems
A love relation from the start
But now it only happens in their dreams
However, I cannot in good conscience recommend this as a "Christian" album, as half-way through the song "Take Me Away," one of the lines used is "I don't need to give a damn about mankind." Whether or not that one line takes away the band's status as a "Christian" band is open for debate, but they should have refrained from using it, if for no other reason than to prevent a weaker brother from stumbling.
I honestly don't know how this one got out of the studio with Mr. Sprinkle's name on it. While some songs seem to work okay, others just sort of stumble along. Plagued by unoriginal music and sub-par vocals, this band has some serious work ahead of them. They have going for them the good production quality (aside from the poorly-mixed vocals at times) and the occasionally interesting lyrics, but Red Shoed Star needs to write and play together for a while more before they mature.
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 1998Reviewed by Josh SpencerUpon first listen this band fails to impress. Same with the second, but by then you begin to notice a smattering of decent hooks and song-writing on par with most alternative-rock radio fare. Some songs crank with power pop distortion, others kick back with mellow strumming, while others combine both extremes. There is even a funked out tune with some '70's lead guitar. For better or worse,…
