Singer-songwriter Tim Morrow was born and raised in Michigan by a father who had a music collection that sounds like the format of any oldies radio station. Having grown up listening to Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, The Four Tops, The Supremes, The Who and many other artists who now grace The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, it is easy to see how Morrow’s writing style seems more like Classic Rock than Alternative.
Having already recorded and released several albums with several bands and on his own, TimMorrow had recently just released his newest album. The 2013 release from Tim Morrow is entitled As Long As it’s Not Me.
As Long As it’s Not Mebegins with the track “Sunny Day in Santa Monica”. The track has a strong groove while still processing a light feel to it. The song seems to bounce along as Morrow sings about just enjoying the day as it comes. The track features a very strong guitar solo from guitarist Dinos Lambropoulos that adds a lot of energy to the song.
While“Sunny Day in Santa Monica” has a fun, light feel to it, the track “That’s the Way Love Is” helps to add a very commercial feel to the album. The song features a chorus that has a strong hook to it that will almost definitely take hold of the listener and keep them from turning away.
With the next track of the album, the feel of the music changes: On the title track of the album, Tim Morrow gives “As Long As it’s Not Me” an acoustic feel as the track contains only vocals and acoustic guitars. The lyrics about allowing sadness to happen as long as it happens to someone else have a lot more an effect with the simple, light feeling of the track.
If there was one track off As Long As it’s Not Me that can be described as a straight-out rocker, that song would be “Deep in Her Heart”. On the track, Tim Morrow, guitarist Jerry Juden and drummer Perry Lopez create a track that has a traditional “rock song” feeling. While other songs on the album have stronger grooves or feel more radio-friendly, “Deep in Her Heart” is one track that allows Morrow, Juden and Lopez to feel like an actual rock band. The track also seems to give Tim Morrow the best chance to show off as not only a guitarist, but also a bass player as well, since he does provide the “bottom” to each song on his 2013 release.
Tim morrow brings a certain amount of “Classic Rock” feel to the track “I’ll Go Away”. The slow rocker has the same type of feel as music from bands from the late 60s, early 70s such as Led Zepplin, The Moody Blues and others who took the time to slow things down once-in-a-while. “I’ll Go Away” from Tim Morrow is a track for those listeners who like a lighter feel in their rock music.
The pace of the music picks up for the track “In 30 Years”. The track once again brings a strong rock sound to the album as Tim Morrow sings about wanting to know what the perfect woman will look like in later life. The track is once again strengthened by the guitar playing by guitarist Dinos Lambropoulos as he adds another guitar solo to Morrow’s music to give texture to the As Long As it’s Not Me from Tim Morrow.
The newest release from Tim Morrow comes to an end with the track “2 Day Holiday”.The track would fit well with the easy sounds of The Carpenters, Jim Croce or other 70s artists that fell into that “easy listening” era of music.
The ten tracks that make up As Long As it’s Not Me from Tim Morrow give the listener plenty of variety while still staying within the “Classic Rock” genre. And aside from just a few missed notes, the album is a solid release.
Review by Matheson Kamin
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
Matheson's Entertainment Blog 