Revel - Pat McGee

Revel, the first album that Pat McGee recorded with an extended lineup, messes with the one thing that made his first album worthwhile -- its simplicity. His slightly sappy lyrics seemed forgivable on From the Record when they were backed only by a skeleton crew of musicians -- now that everything is overblown, they seem bloated with sentiment. A strange mixture of traditional rock elements like bluesy saxophone and banjo picking just doesn't work -- it leaves the listener thinking that the song would be much better if the engineer left off a few tracks when the mixing was done. ~ Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide