CD REVIEW: J.J. Crowne - Songs of Innocence and Experience
By: Cyrus
Rhodes
"Inspirational & uplifting"
- INDIE MUSIC DIGEST -
Amazing songwriting, passionate vocal presence, and music that is
straight from the heart J.J Crowne delivers via this impressive 12 song catalogue. Songs of Innocence and
Experience remains one of the best self produced productions I have ever
heard.
Artist: J.J. Crowne
Label: Independent Artist
Website: https://jjcrowne.com
Genre: Rock, Power Pop,
Sounds Like: Seals and Crofts, Cat Stevens, Neil Diamond, Marc Cohen
Best Songs: Only Time, Everything About You, Finally Your Turn
CD REVIEW:
Singer/Songwriter J.J. Crowne released
his latest CD entitled Songs of Innocence & Experience in
2011. J.J. Crowne hails from Miami, Florida and is no
stranger to the Recording Industry, having produced and composed radio jingles,
theatrical music & TV themes for Fox, PBS and Univision just to name a
few. I might add J.J. Crowne played all the instruments on this CD & did all
the production himself.
The CD kicks things off with “Only Time” an upbeat intro piece
that serves up inviting guitar ambience, driving rock rhythm and well placed vocals & harmonies from Crowne.
Track 2 “Another Day of Love” keeps things moving in the right direction with
this powerful ballad complete with heart provoking vocals, powerful
harmonies and inspirational lyrics and subject matter
from Crowne. Track 3 “Everything about You”
downshifts a bit with its methodical musical build that eventually lends itself
into a passionate melody that flows & ebbs its way through to emotional
fruition. As this CD slowly unfolds its obvious Crowne’s music has a lot to offer. It has all the trademarks of power pop/rock - very
inspirational and uplifting nature. Sometimes passionate, sometimes up-beat, never to be underestimated. This CD flows extremely
well song for song with musical textures reminiscent of Seals and Crofts, Marc
Cohen, Neil Diamond & even classic Cat Stevens. Each piece is a short and
sweet musical experience thus holding your attention span perfectly. The
musical textures are pretty simplistic and for a 4 piece rock delivery holds its own remarkably well. The musicianship of J.J. Crowne is solid across the board & conservative. Crowne is not afraid to deliver the naked truth. Here you
will touched by his vocal presence and overall
message. These amazing ballads let it all hang out emotionally. Vocally Crowne’s voice holds his own extremely well within the
confines of this catalogue. From passionate “Best of Intentions” to
heartfelt “I Can Be The Wind” this CD has something for just about everyone.
The CD ends with “Finally Your Turn” the perfect finale statement for a CD of
this caliber.
Overall this release
from J.J. Crowne is an impressive musical statement.
Its strong suit is his musical & emotional depth, songwriting craft and
passionate vocal presence from J.J Crowne. Crowne touches all the emotions here not only with his
writing but his vocal delivery as well. Pound for pound Songs of
Innocence and Experience is a very honest & uplifting statement
that personifies the human experience with messages of wisdom, hope & life
itself. Equally as impressive is the production virtuoso of J.J. Crowne. It’s a huge undertaking to write, play &
produce all the music himself. My hat’s off to Crowne for taking all this on. I really admire artists out there who are themselves and just let the
chips fall where they may. Praise goes out to the artist that can show us
something real and genuine beneath their veil of vanity. J.J. Crowne is one of these artists.
Cyrus Rhodes