US composer and musician Zuzu WELSH have been an active musician for just about 40 years, involved in a number of different bands over the years, the greater amount of them being bands with their main activity playing music live on stage if the impressions I get from the official artist biography are correct. “The Road Less Traveled” is Welsh first solo album, and was self-released in 2014.
I got this CD by way of my wife, who won this one in a promotional contest, and when it arrived I promised her that I would give this one a write-up, even if the material as such is a bit beyond my normal scope. As the greater amount of material I cover resides within the fields of progressive rock, experimental music and various forms of metal, Zuzu Welsh style of music is one I don’t encounter all that often, nor does he explore music I’m all that familiar with in terms of backgrounds, references and the main influential artists one might point towards.
In general I’d claim that this is a CD rather firmly founded somewhere inside the Americana tradition of music. There are instances here of archetypal country music, complete with crying lap steel on one occasion, and with acoustic guitars and either banjo or mandolin teaming up in support of the lead vocals on multiple occasions. Other creations are harder to place, but some Americana flavoring appears to be a common and ongoing feature throughout, even when Welsh and his musical friends dips their hands into Caribbean inspired music on Never Die, blues and blues rock, as on Belly of the Beast, as well as 50’s style rock n roll on Late Night Lonesome Prisoner Blues.
My main impression is that this is a competent set of musicians, that appears to be secure in their roles and probably could perform any of these songs with relative ease under any circumstance. For me the compositions in general becomes rather too unobtrusive however, lacking in spark and spirit if you like. As with anything else this is a matter of personal taste, and from what I understand about Americana and Country music they are meant to be that way, to come across as a gentle and smooth soundtrack to your life, reflecting thoughts, moods and emotions you can recognize in yourself and hum along to. And for those whose taste in music goes towards these types of music and can recognize the manner in which they enjoy music to fit such a description, this CD should be a fairly safe purchase.
From a more analytical and personal point of view, I’d remark that on many songs I find the rhythm instruments in particular to have too much of a supplemental role. I miss hearing the small details and fills a stellar drummer can add to a song to provide those tantalizing small details that makes me as a listener take further notice, to state a specific example, as well as the more spirited kind of performances that only rarely appears here, Normal being among the few exceptions where my feet did start tapping along as the song unfolded.
When that is said, this is a pleasant production overall. Not one that provides me with too many moments of audio magic admittedly, but a pleasant enough album by a competent set of musicians. While I don’t see this CD making headway into audiences not already enjoying music of this kind, for those with a firm and established affection for Americana type and Country oriented music this album should come across as a pleasant and generally rewarding experience.
My rating: 60/100
