DARE I SAY MASTERPIECE?

Sunday, October 14, 2007

http://www.myspace.com/thebjspace

I was just telling someone the other day how one of the big problems with the singer-songwriter genre is how the lyrics so often revolve around 'boy meets girl- fall in love- break up- blah blah blah' it gets so mundane and boring – It can be a real turn-off.

So when Byron Zanos handed me his yet-to-be released CD, "Still in a Fight" and then felt the need to explain it was a concept album based on a failed relationship… I thought, 'Oh, God…NO! This is going to be torturous!' Then, he even went as far as to say that the stuff he's writing now is even better… There's the defensive qualifier. If I had a dollar for every time an artist gave me a qualifying statement (I have a throat infection or I'm so hung over) before a performance, I'd own my own label. But I rarely hear a defensive qualifier for a CD – usually artists are BUSTING with pride. Here's the odd thing… the defended live performances usually are fine, and the hyped CDs…not so much. There's probably some psychological theory at work there- but I haven't got time to explore that.

I had a good idea what I thought Byron was capable of, having been through his debut CD "Somewhere in the Middle" several times. Decent writing – 3 VERY good songs out of 10- which, trust me, is better than most. He has a really beautiful voice and I just felt something possibly very special budding there. As I have mentioned before, if my gut instinct is strong – it's usually right.

So now I have this "relationship" CD from an artist whose development curve is crucial. I am anxious and hesitant at the same time.

I have a system of listening. When I get a CD it goes on the boom box in the kitchen or living room and gets a listen while I'm doing other things. If it's holding my attention it gets down-loaded to the iPod for a more intense scrutiny. If I REALLY like it…it goes in the car with me everywhere.

So, "Still in a Fight" goes into the boom box. I'm washing dishes. (Yes, even "New York's famous taste-maker" has to do the dishes) First song (title track) Nice melody – still loving his voice- lyrics…well… they're not making me sick....that's a plus. Second song – very hooky – nice – and the lyrics are…really good! Track three EVEN hookier (is that even a word?) and the lyrics are freekin' brilliant.

With one exception (and it's really more my own personal taste than any fault in the writing of performing) every single song on this CD is outstanding. I'll say it again, OUTSTANDING.

Here's the kicker- while each track stands out as a great song on it's own, the album as a whole takes on the bigger and more difficult task of telling a complete story. Here is where the genius comes in. Here is where I stopped washing the dishes. Here's where I became completely captivated by the emotional roller coaster that Zanos has masterfully created.

Most of us are familiar with the well documented "stages of grief" which are: Denial, isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. Some how Zanos has managed to create powerful, moving, truly brilliant music which can reach in and grab you and put you into each stage right along with him.

By the time I reached the end of track 9, "Thank You" (the heart wrenching acceptance stage) I kid you not, I was literally weeping! The second time I listened to it I did so without the build up from the previous stages (and the beautifully produced linking intros) and the song still gave me goose bumps. It's THAT good. Dare I say masterpiece? I dunno... I'm like the teacher who prefers to reserve the A+ for a very rare occasion, but as indie CDs go, it's pretty damn close.

I played a couple of tracks for an artist friend, whose complaint was that one sounded like John Mayer and the other sounded like James Blunt – my answer was, first of all, not bad company to be compared to… but neither of them has ever made me cry. James Blunt WISHES he could write an emotional crescendo the way Zanos can. It's one of his strongest attributes as a writer, and something that is very rare.

When I wrote to Byron, after hearing the CD for the first time I said: "Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I am simply blown away, once again with your voice, the writing, the production, the emotion- This is amazing - and if this "ain't the best stuff..." I don't know if I'll be able to handle what comes next! What I DO know.... is that A LOT more people should be hearing you."