the 31 best of 2007 – 19: Jon McLaughlin – Indiana

Initially, I was so blown away by the record Indiana,by Jon McLaughlin, that I was quick to rank it among the other five star records for this year; and that is where I wanted it to stay… it deserves it. However, unfortunately, the more I listened to it, I managed to find a few flaws that I just couldn’t ignore. Now don’t get me wrong, the great tracks on this record (and their are MANY), are just that, GREAT; but, there are a couple that I would have seriously considered leaving off, or doing slightly differently… that’s if I were in his shoes when he was making Indiana.

First of all, this is exactly the type of music that best suits my taste (in case you wanted to know what my favorite music sounds like); a piano-rock themed pop performance, backed with poignant and emotionally driven lyrics. Also, one of the things that draws me most to artists like Jon McLaughlin, is that his voice is just so beautiful, and it compliments his music so amazingly, that it is clear that he was made to do this. Couple that with the passion in his voice when he sings these songs, you really feel good that you are hearing a true musician at work; and Jon is definitely a great musician at that.

My only problem with the record overall, is first of all, there is one track that not only stands out as lackluster, and not at all at the same tier as the rest of the album; but it also unfortunately refuses to be ignored. With respect to his craft overall, you can see that the way he writes a song shows that he really grapples with what is going on with his life, and then pours it out when he puts pen to paper. However, whatever magic happened in all of the other amazing tracks, is totally lost on that one bad one. The song I am overly-fixated on, is People; which has just the worst sounding piano intro I have heard in a long time, and in my opinion, ruins what could have actually been a good song. Unfortunately, this song is not merely tacked on to the end of the record, and as such, it sullies the last few songs that follow it; and shines a light on how those songs aren’t as powerful and good as those at the beginning and middle of the album. I honestly think that if he would have left People off of the record, he would have hit gold, but as such, I am forced to focus more on something I didn’t like.

Overall, I am extremely happy that I discovered Jon, because his talent is clear and rings true throughout his debut. I think that if there were more artists that are like him on the radio, and gaining as much popularity as many of those crappy performers do, the music industry would be a better place. Yet, when you listen to Jon complain about how the volitile things are in his frustrated anthem Industry, you realize that it is these little guys that have to work that much harder to be recognized for a mountain’s size more talent. At least he broke through and brought this stunning debut to my ears; I can definitely say that I am thankful for that.

Favorite songs from Indiana:
Indiana (this song is AMAZINGLY beautiful)
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/jm-indiana.mp3]
Industry
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/jm-industry.mp3]
Already In
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/jm-already.mp3]
Human, Beautiful Disaster, and Amelia’s Missing.

Rating: