ALBUM: First (1973)
MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$
This is soft rock AKA as Adult Contemporary. I bought this used recently for loose change after reviewing the Best of Bread for MyVinylCountdown.com.
I admired Bread’s songcraft and was impressed with Gate’s guitar and vocals. It was pretty but that’s about it. A little like the Carpenters, a little like America.
In fact some of us debated which one was best (or worst) Bread vs. America. Think that dispute is still ongoing. One colleague said he would pick America but only if they never do ‘Muskrat Love’ again.
So I bought this Gates’ solo album and it is pretty much a Bread album, pretty, but that’s about it.
But maybe that’s enough.
Song picks: ‘Ann’ shows off his voice. ‘SIght and Sound’ shows some guitar skills. Suite Clouds and Rain shows his piano chops. ‘Do you Believe He’s Comin’ shows his aforementioned guitar skills as well as religious faith. In fact for a guy who seems so partial to soft rock, Gates can play a mean guitar as he does here in the “Do You Believe He’s Comin’ and with Bread the song ‘Guitar Man.’
“Muskrat Love” is not really music, is it?
Ha….Icky music