Davison / Coleman – Forward Motion / 2005 DHW / 11 Tracks / http://www.davisoncoleman.com / Reviewed 02 October 2006

The instrumental opening to “You & I And All The World”: confuse listeners. This confusion is great, as it makes individuals listen in further, to try to figure out exactly where Davison / Coleman are going with their track. What eventually results during “You & I And All The World” is a blend of seventies pop and eighties alternative. Thus, hints of The Carpenters and Carole King filter in even as Susanne Vega and the 4 Non Blondes struggle for dominance.

The acoustic guitar work is something that comes back for “Castles in the Sand”; in fact, the guitars may only be part of what is a very cohesive type of album. It is almost as if Davison / Coleman continue directly from the end of “You & I” with just a minor change to the vocals. The guitars are very fitting for the track, and while they are not solo-heavy, they do seem to go into Led Zeppelin territory quite a few times during “Forward Motion”. The first major change that happens during “Forward Motion” has to be during “C’est La Vie”. In this track, martial drumming and strings come into play to create a much more full sound for Davison to work off of. It is not surprising then that the resulting track is much more solid than either of the two previous tracks (this is not to say in any way that the previous tracks were weak, but this represents a step up in their ability).

The cover of Cat Stevens’ “Moonshadow” is not that much of a surprise given the overall sound of the music created by Davison and Coleman on their “Forward Motion”. In fact, before seeing the tracklist of this album, Cat Stevens was one of the individuals I linked to the work of Davison and Coleman. The style of msuci played on this disc will not be for everyone. This is a classic style of rock that again is much more in the vein of an acoustic Fleetwood Mac than anything. However, if this style of music is something that one could conceivably dig, Davison and Coleman can be relied on to create some of the best that have graced listeners’ ears since the style was first being used. With eleven solid tracks, the cost of this album should be more than worth the enjoyment that one will draw from this album.

Top Tracks: Heal, Castles in the Sand

Rating: 6.6/10

[JMcQ]