Palumbo – Citizen X

Palumbo – Citizen X / 2006 Lifesong / 14 Tracks / http://www.palumbocitizenx.com / http://www.winthropmedia.com / Reviewed 09 August 2006

I had no clue that individuals still listened to Rush. This is exactly how Palumbo creates eirself during the opening track to “Citizen X”, “Lost in America”. There is another type of sound that is present during “Citizen X”, and that has to be a Zevon like grimace present through each of the tracks on the disc. Couple that with a Queensryche-like paranoia and individuals have a lot to listen to on “Citizen X”. The vocals on this album are a little stretched out and shoehorned into spaces that they would not normally fit, but for the most part individuals can put this behind them.

“Monkeyshines” is a perfect exactle of this, as it show Palumbo as someone that tries to fit two lines of material (lyrics) into the space that perhaps one light of lyrics would work. It takes a few tracks, but Palumbo changes the style of eir “Citizen X”. This time, ey goes into the faux-country of a “Dog Eat Dog”-era Warrant or a Cinderella. The guitars would work perfectly in an Every Mother’s Nightmare track, and the inclusion of child’s vocals during the song changes up the general sound of the album. Palumbo actually shows eir worth during “Hey, Mr. President” as the track goes farther than just taking in a little bit of country; there are hints of both Pink Floyd as well as The Beatles here. Palumbo runs into the same crowding in problem during “We Want Mine”.

The tracks all have a catchy nature to them, but there is a problem time in and time out with Palumbo having too much to say and too short of tracks to say it in. The album is an interesting artifact from another period in music. This would be a perfect album released in 1990; having this album released in 2006 shows that Palumbo is very confident in eir compositions. All of the songs on the disc are solid, but it is Palumbo’s vocals that provide the greatest stumbling blocks here. This is an album that I will be spinning for a while to come. I love Queensryche and all those bands from the era, and to hear Palumbo doing all these bands justice is really heartening. Give this album a go if you yearn for the days of Enuff Z’Nuff, Mr. Big, and all of those bands; Palumbo drags listeners back for almost an hour into the era of hair and guitars.

Top Tracks: We Want Mine, All Fly Away

Rating: 7.3/10

[JMcQ]