In a structure similar to The Who's Tommy, the sophomore release from Sunday's Child, Now Then, sketches the allegorical journey of Victor Silas, a prodigal who squanders his deep South inheritance/birthright in Las Vegas during the nation's bicentennial. The sound is generally light modern rock with plenty of harmonic overtones, and some interesting samples thrown in occasionally.
The clear, spare singing of David Vanderpool gets the message across nicely. The jewel case's novelty spine featuring a silver roulette ball gives the CD hands-on appeal, but misrepresents the project. Sunday's Child doesn't convey a good sense of "place" for their story; Silas's fall could be anywhere. Far more effective than their attempts to capture reckless debauchery in Sin City are the numbers that involve the heroine of the morality play, Grace. All in all, a pleasant little project, the sort of thing you could shove in the hands of your buddy when he confesses he's leaving his wife.
2.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 1997Reviewed by Mark J. AylorI heard good things about this before I listened to it. Sigh! Maybe next time. Now Then is not bad; it just didn't live up to my expectations, even after I listened to it several times. I kept putting this review off because I wanted to say good things about it. The theme seemed very interesting. It's the prodigal son story (or prodigal husband in this case) of Victor Silas. There are a couple of…Similar sounding releases
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