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Twelve Pieces - Mike McClure | |
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Reviewed by Matt Bjorke
While you may not know his name as a solo act, any fan of CMT surely has seen some of the Great Divide's numerous videos. McClure is the main songwriter and lead vocalist/guitarist for the band. While most bands break up to record their solo efforts, McClure has created his own web page and toured by himself without his band mates while maintaining that Twelve Pieces is merely a side project for him and his main focus will still be the Great Divide.
That being said, Twelve Pieces is truly a remarkable album. Immensely personal, this record has everything on it that Mike recorded over a two year period since the Great Divide's last record, Afterglow: The Will Rogers Sessions. While a couple of these tracks could have fit on a Great Divide record, I have a hard time thinking that most of them would considering that these tracks, for the most part, are stripped down acoustic based songs while the band has always been electric based.
"Haunt Me No More" opens up the album and features some great acoustic guitar work by Mike, with lyrics that speak about not being haunted by the ghosts of his past while being happily content with the life that he's living.
One of only two tracks that could fit on a Great Divide record, "In My Ears" is a duet with Cross Canadian Ragweed's lead vocalist, Cody Canada. (Cross Canadian Ragweed was recently signed by Universal South). The song is about a guy who wrote a song for a woman that he cannot get out of his head.
"Wicked Game Of Hearts" is one of those songs that could easily be recorded by another artist and turned into a hit. Mike's not concerned with airplay so his songs have a stripped down feel to them. This track is a duet with the wonderful Susan Gibson. Susan was the lead vocalist of The Groobees before they broke up, and wrote the Dixie Chicks' "Wide Open Spaces." Melding her Mary Chapin Carpenter-styled vocals with Mike's gritty voice and you have pure magic. The lyrics are about a couple who's afraid to fall in love again.
"Dings" is one of many songs that showcase Mike's deep spiritual roots. About a guy who realizes that he's not perfect, this wonderful waltz is not the type of song that the typical modern country record has on it yet it sounds as if it's off of an old Willie Nelson record out of the 60s or 70s.
"World Go Round" is one of those songs about a guy who wishes he could throw all of his problems away and just be a kid again. This is a well written song that talks about that age old theme about wanting to grow up but realizing how great it was to be a kid.
With a wonderful piano accompaniment, "Between Two Thieves" shows that if he wanted to be a Christian musician, Mike could be. His spirituality is showcased on this record throughout every track yet this track showcases it best. It's talking about Jesus being hung between two thieves like he was a criminal.
With Mike McClure wearing his heart on his sleeve, I get the sense that this personal album may not have been destined for commercial release but simply was too good for it not to be given to the masses. A masterful album by a dynamically talented man who I hope releases more albums like Twelve Pieces in the future.
Song List:
MP3 clips courtesy of Mike McClure's Official Website.
Album cover, used with permission of Compadre Records.
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