Dave Shelton-Fall

Dave Shelton is a bit of throwback with a classic rock kind of sound to his songs. He plays all the instruments, guitar, bass, drums, and even provides the background vocals to compliment his strong lead. The great classic rock sound gets a huge boost from the keyboard playing of Mark Christopher. He does the Hammond B-3 justice and does a nice job of layering in a driving groove for Shelton to put all of his instrumentation and voice on. To top it all off, the mix and sound quality are above average.

“Drive” is a rocker that reminded me of a good Lenny Kravitz tune, Shelton’s playing sounds like Kravitz and his vocals do as well. It has that non-stop energetic beat that never lets up and some killer lead guitar hooks that grab you right from the start. “Depression” is what it is lyrically; musically it is one of the meatier and layered tunes on the recording. There is a nice blend of vocals, instrumentation, and feeling throughout the track. All 11 tracks offer you some rock and pop with just a smidgen of the blues here and there to give it that much more depth and overall feeling.

I like this guy Dave Shelton, he is multitalented-singing, and playing like this was his last shot to make it. Every artist should go into the recording studio that way, just a like an athlete that competes as if it was their last day on earth. You only have one opportunity to catch a listener’s ear; you may as well do it consistently throughout an album so the word spreads about your music. I can honestly say that Shelton accomplishes this, and there are so many that fall short these days, its refreshing and exciting to hear.

May 24, 2006

01. So Close (3:16)
02. Angel (2:55)
03. Goin Mad (4:35)
04. I Could Be Wrong (3:21)
05. Fall (3:59)
06. Now (3:23)
07. Near (3:12)
08. Depression (3:38)
09. First Day (4:08)
10. Drive (4:21)
11. Real (2:36)