Strangers & Angels O Fallon MO

Strangers & Angels

Gene Land

Gel Music, 2000

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/20/2001

I would love nothing more than to sit here in my office at thePierce Memorial Archives and declare Gene Land to be the next bigthing in country music.

After all, this is a genre which is pretty much still searchingfor an all-out leader since Garth Brooks announced he's hanging itup - maybe. (That all depends on what day of the week it is, and ifJupiter is in the shadow of Mars.) The problem is that no one hascome forth to be the next Brooks, and anyone who's come close hasdone so by crossing over to the pop market. Dixie Chicks? Possibly,but they're not there yet. Faith Hill? Some view her as a sell-out.Same goes for Shania Twain.

Yes, I'd love to clear the confusion up and say that Land isBrooks's obvious successor... but I can't. Not after listening to Strangers & Angels and hearing a pretty much genericcollection of cookie-cutter country with more than a touch of twangfrom the Plains states.

You can tell that there is a lot of indecision in regards tothis project in the first song, "Lost In A Border Town" - thoughthis might be the fault of guitarist/bassist/producer Kevin Jones.Just as Land launches into his vocal, you hear a tasty guitar lick- immediately followed by a mandolin solo. Hey, Kevin, pick one orthe other, and commit to it. All this quick-change instrumentation does isconfuse the listener, who (at least in this stage of the disc) ismore interested in discovering who Land is. Save the fancy show-offstuff for later, and use it in moderation.