Three - The Radio Hits

Silent Planet Promotions/Independent

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You know, I have to be honest with you.  When I first received this album by the band Three, I was like...how could they have radio hits?  I've never even heard of them!  Well, then I had to be honest with myself...Matt, you rarely ever listen to the radio so how would you know?  Well, anyways...what we have here is a band fronted by Casper McCloud.  He has been hailed in the past as the next Jimi Hendrix, so I was anxious to hear the material on this disc despite the lame attempt at packaging. 
 
Well, to be honest once again, this is not really my favorite musical style in the world.  And normally I wouldn't listen to much music like this.  But over multiple listens I've started to enjoy what I am hearing....for the most part.  Three's style is labeled as a British hard rock sound.  I'll definitely give them that on most of the songs.  There are some songs that don't come close to hard rock, but no one said you had to live inside a box.  There are some hard rockers on here and there are some more mellow, ballad, acoustic based songs...and stuff in-between.  Musically, the band is very talented and McCloud's guitar playing is fantastic.  He's friends with Phil Keaggy, and Keaggy has made appearances on all of Three's albums so far.  Now, there are no liner notes to speak of on the CD insert, but I could almost bet you that Keaggy played on this album as well, especially the song "Doctor in the House" and maybe "Talk to the Wind."  Both songs, especially the former, have some very Keaggy-ish playing.  The rest of the band is good, but the guitar playing is where it shines.
 
Vocally, think of a style that is a mix between Glenn Kaiser with less of the rapsy edge and the singer that used to sing for the old band Veil.  The vocals, while not really aggressive are very well done and fit the music perfectly.
 
I prefer the harder rocking songs on this disc, but some of the more mellower songs are also excellent, like "Spirit of Love" and "In Our Lifetime."  Some of the very mellow songs are good and sometimes very worshipful.  One song in particular, "In the Presence of Our Lord," sounds like a song you'd hear if you accidentally stumbled into the worship service of an old rural church on a Sunday evening.  Very hymn-ish.
 
While this is not something I will listen to very often, Three is a very talented band who has recorded some good quality music that should greatly appeal to bands of the genre.  And even if you don't like the music, Casper McCloud's testimony (which was printed in the bio) it's a good, inspirational read.  (Review by Matt) 

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