Terry Daun – Game On / 2006 Self / 19 Tracks / http://www.terrydaunmusic.com / Reviewed 08 November 2006

Terry Daun starts eir “Game On” with an interesting approach. A song like “My Six Furry Friends” has an arrangement that is serviceable. However, there is a problem with the vocals. Instead of meshing the vocals with the instrumentation on a track, the vocals are layered directly over the instrumentation. This has an effect that makes the track feel a little too clunky. The fact that Daun has little in the way of a flow going during “Clear Traffic Ahead” keeps the disc from properly soaring.

A positive thing that can be said about Daun at this point is that there is more than a small hint of Peter Gabriel in Daun’s vocal styling during “Clear Traffic Ahead”. The first track that feels as if Terry Daun has something going for eir has to be “Will You Ever” . However, the extended length of the track puts a kibosh on the celebration; the first few minutes are solid, but the second half of the track shows Daun spinning eir wheels at points. One cannot claim that Daun is trying to rip them off; 19 tracks at 66 minutes give listeners an exhaustive description of eir musical style. “Give A Little” has Daun steal the practice tapes of Journey for the instrumentation of the track.

The vocals fit interestingly during this track, but I think that the instrumentation is head and shoulders above any vocals that make their way onto this track. Daun is able to create a cohesive album through and though with “Game On”. While the tracks may never make it to the Billboard charts, there is a sort of fun, almost Atom and His Package meets David Hasslehoff sound to the output of Daun. Saying that, this is not a polished album, and individuals may be turned off by the roughness around the disc’s edges. Daun was able to get a collection of tracks out here that all share a slew of commonalities without the tracks rolling together. There is some commonality with artists like Steve Lieberman (and more so) Mizar, but Daun’s bread and butter is electronic and R&B music, for sure. I don’t know where Daun will go with future albums, but here’s to hoping that Daun can go forth and get a producer and engineer on staff that can provide different viewpoints about what would make the best approach.

Top Tracks: Lady of the Night, Get Up

Rating: 5.4/10

[JMcQ]