Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

I’m having a little bit about a problem telling you about THE ROAD by Trueheart. Trueheart is the brainchild of Ross Vick, who handles songwriting, vocals, and rhythm guitar chores for Trueheart. Vick left a sales and marketing gig to follow his dream and the first result is THE ROAD, a twelve song set that hews to a well-crafted if fairly predictable formula that doesn’t take chances.

My problem is that THE ROAD is aimed right at the 22 to 35 year old female demographic, and doesn’t leave an inch of wiggle room for the guys out there. Nothing wrong with that; Sick Of It All, for example, aims for a similarly narrow audience, white males between 16 and 30 who missed the bus to college (as well as a small number of females that you probably wouldn’t want to bring home to mom). It’s just tough to relate to. Think Rupert Holmes, Kenny Rankin, Air Supply, or David Gates. Bland guitar/organ/drum arrangements, but very nicely done, even pretty in spots,  but nothing that will stir the soul of the savage male beast. “Goodbye” is a break up song sung by a guy, but written from a woman’s point of view. Guys…when you break up with someone, how do you do it? Do you start running down all of the wonderful things yo u’ve done together but say it’s not working, or do you just not call anymore? Hey, I tried the “Goodbye” method once, and it didn’t --- doesn’t work. But it’s what women think they want, and Trueheart taps right into it. Vick has an incredibly pleasant voice, and he obviously knew what he was doing when he dropped his office gig. Let me be crystal clear on this: THE ROAD is not a project that sounds like your next door neighbor had a brain fart, quit his job, strapped on a guitar, and became the next Wild Man Fischer. Vick has all the chops --- songwriting, vocals, and guitar --- and he surrounds himself with some competent players to fill out his sound as well. It’s just that you’re not gonna hear any of these tracks as background music to the next John Madden video game.

I reiterate: women will love this very well done disc. They’ll throw on “My Time” while getting ready to go out, and dance around to it as they get dressed. But guys? No, unless they’re buying it for their girlfriends, wives, or both.