Tom Mcguinness - Tom Mcguinness

Bitrate:320K/s
Year:2001
Time:42:20 
Size:97,6 MB 
Label:Self-Released 
Styles:Blues 
Art:Front 

Tracks Listing:
 1. Long Gone - 0:38
 2. Momma Tried to Tell Me - 3:12
 3. I Got My Eye on You - 3:24
 4. Standing by My Window - 3:44
 5. The Line to Heaven - 2:57
 6. Till I Fall Down - 2:19
 7. The Wrong Woman - 3:52
 8. When Love Comes Calling - 3:18
 9. Make up Your Mind - 2:43
10. Odd Job Man - 3:39
11. Losing You Put the Blues in Me - 4:21
12. Laura Lee - 3:56
13. That's the Blues - 4:11

"So i finally sat down and gave tom mcguinness's self-titled album a proper listen. yeah, the name might not ring bells for everyone, but this dude's got history-man was in manfred mann back in the 60s, part of that british invasion wave. and honestly? it shows. this record dropped in 2001 (or 2002? whatever, close enough), and it's one of those low-key releases that doesn't scream for attention. no flashy production, no guest stars. just tom, his guitar, and a bunch of songs that feel like they've been sitting in a drawer waiting to be played. what i liked? the vibe. it's warm, lived-in. you can tell he's not trying to impress anyone-he's just doing his thing. tracks like  "the wrong woman" have this smooth, bluesy rock feel. nothing groundbreaking, but it's honest. his voice is kinda rough around the edges, which works. feels real, y'know? marcus cliffe did pretty much everything else-bass, keys, drums, even produced it. dude's a beast. the instrumentation's tight but not overdone. it leaves space for tom's guitar to breathe. and that harmonica on "momma tried to tell me"? chef's kiss. gives me blues-rock chills. but... not all of it hits. some tracks blend together after a while. "make up your mind" is solid, but it doesn't stick. and there's a reprise of "that's the blues" later that feels unnecessary. like, we get it, you like the blues. cool. move on. also, the pacing's a bit off. throws in a 38-second track called "long gone" ? what even is that? a joke? an accident? felt more like a placeholder than a song. still, i kept coming back to "losing you put the blues in me." man, that one aches in the best way. raw, slow burn, with lyrics that don't try too hard. same with "laura lee"-simple story, nice melody, sticks with you. overall? it's not a masterpiece. probably why it's rated 2.0 on discogs. but i kinda love that about it. it's the kind of album no one expected, made by someone who didn't need to prove anything. no pressure, no hype. and here's the weird part-i think that's exactly why it works. not because it's perfect, but because it's not. feels like something you'd find in a dusty record shop, play once, forget, then rediscover years later and go "wait, this is actually good." so yeah. give it a spin if you're into under-the-radar brit rock with soul. just don't expect fireworks. sometimes a quiet flame burns longer" ~ bandcamp.com.

Tom Mcguinness