"Edwin McCain" and his band have just released their third major label album, "Messenger." This album follows in the wake of success they achieved with their sophomore effort "Misguided Roses," and it's radioactive hit single "I'll Be." If they hadn't been through so much together by now, including touring over 300 days a year, they'd probably be thinking "Boy, this rock and roll stuff is easy."

McCain grew up in Greenville, SC. He had a lot of influences growing up from folk, to country, to rock bands like the Replacements. In his teens, he also started fervently following a local folk singer named David Wilcox. It was seeing the effect that David Wilcox had on an audience that made him want to pick up a guitar and try his hand at songwriting and singing.

He eventually got a job playing covers and originals at several clubs in the Hilton Head area. As his popularity increased down there, he decided to branch out and formed his band, which kept touring (and still does) under the name of "Edwin McCain." They eventually built up enough support to warrant the self-released album "Solitude." Given the area that they were touring in, they also became friends with, and played some dates with, Hootie and the Blowfish. This resulted in the release in 1997 of their first major label album (released by Atlantic) called "Honor Among Thieves."

This album brought the band their first top-40 single, the song "Solitude," in which Edwin did a duet with Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish. Through constant touring, and the release of 1998's RIAA certified gold album, "Misguided Roses," the band is at the level of fan recognition it enjoys now.

Now that you know as much about "Edwin McCain's" life as you do about mine, time for my thoughts on this latest release. Fans who have enjoyed his previous works will love the new album. It is easily, at least in my opinion, his strongest to date. There was more collaberation with the band in the songwriting on this album, which I think offers a depth of sound not present on his earlier releases.

The band also manages to mix a wide range of styles on this album, from heartwrenching ballads to amp blowing rock numbers to a beautiful acoustic version of "I'll Be." The first two songs on the album are straight rock numbers, with guitarist Larry Chaney fueling the fire with great licks like the one that opens "Beautiful Life."

"Beautiful Life" is one of those great story-songs that certain songwriters seem to have a flair for writing. "Edwin McCain's" lyrics aren't always complicated and he doesn't usually hide what he's trying to say behind obscure metaphors and symbolism, but his lyric-writing could hardly be termed simplistic. He ofttimes comes up with some incredible imagery, and one of my favorite phrases from the album comes from this song: in writing of men eating breakfast in a strip club, he then writes "And the beer soaked angels spread their wings, and dream of twenties and diamonds and things, and somehow that might ease the sting of the company they keep."

The album also offers up it's share of ballads, including the band's current single, the Diane Warren-penned "I Could Not Ask For More." This anthemic ballad, an enjoyable love song, features a backing orchestra that lends a certain fullness to the sound. As enjoyable as this song may be though, I think two of the most powerful tracks on the album are very sparse acoustic songwriting gems, "Ghosts of Jackson Square" and "Prayer To St. Peter."

"Ghosts of Jackson Square" tells the story of lost, lonely souls set against the backdrop of the doorways and open-air graveyards of New Orleans. New Orleans is romanticized often in songs and movies, but walking around down there, you'll spot as many lost vacant stares as you will smiling faces.

"A Prayer to St. Peter," featuring nothing but McCain's singing and a haunting acoustic guitar accompaniement, is based upon a poem found in a World War II hospital. In it the singer implores St. Peter to take the dying soldiers of the war in and give them the lives they should have had. His writing, to me, is extremely moving in lines like: "Let them wake whole again to brand new dawns, fired by the sun, not war-times bloody guns. May their peace be deep. Remember where the broken bodies lie. God knows how young they were to have to die."

There isn't a track I was disappointed in on the whole album, but I feel the last three tracks are also deserving of special mention. One is an acoustic take on "I'll Be." I normally don't care for people releasing acoustic numbers of songs they've already had hits with, because generally they don't add anything. However, I love the arrangement on this. The romantic saxophone of Craig Shields coupled with the naked vocals and soft acoustic guitar really improve the song.

The band then rips off a bluesy number called "Sign on the Door," which features some great guitar work by Larry Chaney, and just screams to be put in a bar's jukebox somewhere for everyone who has a quarter and a beer to drown their sorrows with. Finally, the band closes with the anthemic "See Off This Mountain," written as a tribute to "Edwin McCain's" grandmother. This six-minute plus opus will have you debating whether to immediately restart the whole CD or just repeat this song one more time.

All in all I'm a big fan of "Edwin McCain's" music, and I think this is his best offering to date. I don't think anyone who already listens to him will be disappointed by this effort, and I think those that aren't already fans will become fans after hearing this album.