Quality: 3.25 out of 5Trip-O-Meter: 3.25 out of 5
Well, I've got to admit that the buttons that Lighthouse press are not really the ones that send my spirit soaring. First off, I'm not really a fan of "horny" rock - y'know, like Chicago or Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Lighthouse has a very prominent horn section tootling away through much of the album. They are also notable dabblers in the bar-band-blasting-with-a-blues-growling-white-dude sort of vibe. There's nothing particularly wrong with what these Canadians were up to if the previous things are a few of your favorites. Fortunately, there's also a touch of light psych to keep my attention.
So, for that little pinch of psych, check out "Little Kind Words" and "1849." Still, they float around on poofy clouds of woodwinds and lounge swings that's a little bombastic for my tastes. The seem to telepathically tune to their fellow Canadians in the Band on "Hats Off (to the Stranger" and Show Me the Way, but with lots of Rock of Ages horns, of course. The opening tune and "Old Man" come forward with the full-scale jazz rock big band thing, while the closing "Sweet Lullaby" gets a little too big for its britches.
The very trippy album cover pulled me in, and now here I am writing about an album that I don't particularly like. Still, Lighthouse does a pretty fine job of accomplishing what it set out to do. If evoking Chicago and Blood, Sweat, and Tears does get your heart all a flutter, then I think that you may be the sonic receiving candidate that this vinyl is waiting for.
