Dean Taylor - Could There Be

Hear The Track Here

Dean Taylor is a new name to my reviews; a songwriter/lyricist from the US who has had some considerable success at his chosen tradecraft so he comes to the party with great expectations from me. I'm really not sure quite why I haven't come across his music before considering that he has done a collaboration with the late, and very much missed Mary Gottschalk and one of his tracks is going to be on the upcoming CD release of material from Mary, compiled by her husband Ray Bonin. So going in with those credentials really sets you up for a professional job in all respects, and that is often where I find a track ultimately fails...

Uh oh... Could there be...?

I have to admit upfront that there is a strain of music I don't really have much time for, and Could There Be veers dangerously close to the 'songs from shows' genre for my own particular taste. However, I am quick to recognise my own philistine tendencies so I can give - I hope - a fairly balanced opinion despite not being bowled over by this track. It's one of life's little irritations I find; the music is in the right place, the production is in the pocket, the vocalist is emoting for all its worth and yet, and yet... Someone has obviously gone to a lot of time, trouble and effort to get this song into the highly professional state it now finds itself and while it has to be said that there is a huge market for this kind of material within the domestic United States and Canada, it's a genre and sound that doesn't travel well - at all.

There is no doubting the professional production and musical talent on display and the vocal by Jason Nadon is everything you would expect it to be and, as I say, this is something that would go down well in a show. An area, no doubt, being mined for gold as we speak by Dean and his cohorts. There is a level of songwriting in America, especially on material of this type, that shows up incredibly badly if it isn't handled right and Mary Gottschalk was one of the artists able to pull it off to a larger audience than normal. Judged on this track, I'd say Dean Taylor was way up there too, although this particular track may be a bit too theatrical to appeal much outside its very narrow genre. I think I'll listen to whatever else this artist has around because you never know with material of this quality....