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(Aug 8, 2004)
Christopher Dallman: Race the Light
Rating - *
The Christopher Dallman page
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Christopher Dallman is a singer, songwriter, and acoustic guitarist. His new CD, Race the Light, is a collection of eleven original songs that could probably be classified as soft rock. The CD is professionally produced and neatly packaged, and Dallman has obviously put his heart and soul into the music. However, the end product is not remarkable in any way, and I can't recommend spending your hard-earned (or even your ill-gotten) money on it.
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Of the three talents listed above, Dallman is probably best at songwriting. These songs convey a melachonly mood that, while certainly not to my taste, might be pleasing to some listeners. For example, the opener, "Motel Room", is a cry of agony to a partner who's been unfaithful to him. It captures a universal feeling, and it's written from the heart. But Dallman simply doesn't have the voice to carry it off. His voice struggles along within a relatively narrow range of energy output, and tends to a nasally quality that will often render the key word in a lyric unintelligible. As if aware of this shortcoming, he resorts to an assortment of techniques which serve to irritate rather than enhance - for example, falsetto, traces of a faux country accent, words emphasized on the wrong syllable, and so forth.
I found only one song that could be considered "catchy", with its plaintive refrain "I ride the train from Queens to Morningside, I keep my eyes straight ahead..." but then the rest of the lyrics are whined and/or mumbled to the point where any effort on the part of the listener, to discover exactly WHY Dallman rides the train from Queens to Morningside, is destined for failure. This song might be an indicator of potential as a songwriter - but the musical performances on this CD are bland at best and tedious at worst. Further, after the first two songs discussed here, the remainder of the CD exhibits a trait that's unfortunately far too common these days: all the energy is packed up in the first song or two, and the later tracks would be too slow and lifeless for even a dentist's office. If Dallman's "racing the light," the smart money's on the light.
You can hear tracks and buy the CD at
CD Baby.
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