Between a Rock and a Tidal Place3 Out of 5 Stars
For his third album, Joshua Radin trying to rock out a bit more. He still specializes in sad girlfriend types of songs, but this time around he pumps up his band. There are traces of Arcade Fire chiming chords and a little bit of U2 guitar soloing in the mix, where he seemed to stick to the James Taylor/Bob Dylan orbit on his first two albums. That will likely surprise fans of "Simple Times" when they hear the bubbling opener "Road To Ride On," which packs more punch than the entirety of Radin's previous album, or "Streetlight," which may be his best single so far.
Knowing his previous works kind of distracts from the decent material on "The Rock and The Tide." Joshua is obviously trying to break away from the singer-songwriter as sad troubadour mold, but it was his sensitivity that made his other records standouts. Unlike John Meyer, who used a desire to blast his old image as wimpy whiz-kid by forming a rocking blues-trio, Radin just sounds like a gifted singer-songwriter going pop. And his whispery vocals are in place for good songs like "We Are Only Getting Better," "You Got What I Need" and "Leap." It's not bad, it's just not unique.
I can't say that I blame Joshua for trying, after all, Jason Mraz and Meyer are working this same territory and breaking the bank on it. "The Rock and The Tide" is enjoyable folk-singer material and written by a better-than-average songwriter. A good album overall, worthy of an average grade.
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