David Deal - Dark Night Of The Soul

Hear The Track Here

Looking back to see when I first met David Deal (you may know him better as songdoc if you hang around certain forums and websites) I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was some time ago. My how time flies when you are having fun eh? The track that introduced me was I Don't Know What (December 2007) which established two important facts about this musician that further tracks have only embellished. One, he is a very serious musician and songwriter and two, he isn't afraid to experiment a bit with form and structure as he showed in that first track. Since then it's always been a pleasure to see one of his tracks coming up for review, at least you can pretty much guarantee the quality.

Although the track is billed as prog-rock at POP, I can't get myself to agree with that assessment. First of all, were it true, I would be foaming at the mouth and uttering vile curses as prog-rock is not welcome in my house and second, Dark Night Of The Soul probably owes more to rock itself. In particular, I was minded on first listening that it sounded like classic Jim Morrison era Doors and that feeling lasted through every play. An easy reach I know, but listen and I think you'll understand what I mean.

Strung out on the kind of Riders Of The Storm setting is a song with surprisingly few words but much inner power. For my money it's the sparseness and style of the backing track and the almost spoken vocal that gives it the Doors feel. David Coonrod and Russ Notestine supplied the bass and guitar respectively on this track and should definitely be mentioned because both play a major part in events. Definitely a track for classic rock fans everywhere, there are so many echoes of the past in it. Don't be thinking though that this is just us old codgers reminiscing about how it was back in the day. Dark Night Of The Soul is modern enough for anyone's tastes and varied enough in structure to keep anyone guessing as to what comes next.

Excellent classic rock song. Highly Recommended.