William Topley
Meat Loaf meets Bob Seger
Brandt Urban, MBA 2
Issue date: 9/26/05 Section: Art & Entertainment
So here's a thought experiment for all of you music aficionados out there: what do you get when you combine one part Meat Loaf, one part Bob Seger, and one part Philip Seymour Hoffman (the guy from Boogie Nights who isn't Marky Mark) and then add in a raspy baritone voice? Going once...going twice...
The answer: William Topley.
Who? Yes, William Topley...he's real. We've got the pictures (and unfortunately) the CD to prove it. Just stop by and I'll gladly pay you $7.23 to take it off my hands.
In all honesty, Topley actually has a good voice and is musically competent, but not being in need of calcium supplements or Efferdent just yet, I don't find his music appealing. He's an artist more suited for someone interested in bluesy, southern, soft rock. And you get this sense from the opening track on Topley's latest album Sea Fever.
Topley, born in England, produced his first album, Prince of the Deep Water in 1991 with his band The Blessing. Having heard only Sea Fever, I can not say much about Topley's evolution as an artist. However, it only takes a few minutes listening to hear some rather prominent influences on Topley.
Certainly on the title track, and to a lesser extent elsewhere on the album, the undistorted guitar licks, mixed with Topley's frequent spoken-wordesque lyrics delivery, reminds the listener of Dire Straits. As well it should. Not only did Mark Knopfler play lead guitar on Sea Fever, but Topley teamed with Dire Straits producer Neil Dorfsman on the album.
Topley does show his range as an artist with a good mix of ballads (Paramount 1009, Five Days a Week, and Handle With Care), blue-grass enfused soft rock (High On the Rhythm), and standard rock numbers (Step, Inside, Sea Fever, and Michigan Life). But I guess range isn't important if it's all unappealing.
Overall, the music if fairly formulaic and serves as a backdrop for Topley's vocals, which just rubbed me the wrong way. In the end, the cheesiness factor is just too great to take him seriously.
The answer: William Topley.
Who? Yes, William Topley...he's real. We've got the pictures (and unfortunately) the CD to prove it. Just stop by and I'll gladly pay you $7.23 to take it off my hands.
In all honesty, Topley actually has a good voice and is musically competent, but not being in need of calcium supplements or Efferdent just yet, I don't find his music appealing. He's an artist more suited for someone interested in bluesy, southern, soft rock. And you get this sense from the opening track on Topley's latest album Sea Fever.
Topley, born in England, produced his first album, Prince of the Deep Water in 1991 with his band The Blessing. Having heard only Sea Fever, I can not say much about Topley's evolution as an artist. However, it only takes a few minutes listening to hear some rather prominent influences on Topley.
Certainly on the title track, and to a lesser extent elsewhere on the album, the undistorted guitar licks, mixed with Topley's frequent spoken-wordesque lyrics delivery, reminds the listener of Dire Straits. As well it should. Not only did Mark Knopfler play lead guitar on Sea Fever, but Topley teamed with Dire Straits producer Neil Dorfsman on the album.
Topley does show his range as an artist with a good mix of ballads (Paramount 1009, Five Days a Week, and Handle With Care), blue-grass enfused soft rock (High On the Rhythm), and standard rock numbers (Step, Inside, Sea Fever, and Michigan Life). But I guess range isn't important if it's all unappealing.
Overall, the music if fairly formulaic and serves as a backdrop for Topley's vocals, which just rubbed me the wrong way. In the end, the cheesiness factor is just too great to take him seriously.
