Despite the fact that Tal Bachman's dad is Randy Bachman of Guess Who/BTO fame, the younger Bachman's music is more an expression of perfect pop craftsmanship than brawny blue-collar rock. Not unlike his hero Jeff Lynne, Tal Bachman fills his songs with layered harmonies, chiming guitars, and crashing hooks. Half the fun of TAL BACHMAN comes from identifying the artists who served as influences for songs that deal with such adult subject matter as aging relatives (the Queen-flavored "I Wonder"), lifelong monogamy (the Nilsson-esque "Beside You"), and total devotion (the Lennon-like lushness of "You're My Everything"). But for all his sentimentality, Bachman still manages to retain a nose for crunching power-pop on numbers like the Cheap Trick-influenced "Darker Side of Blue," "She's so High," and the funky "You Don't Know What it's Like."
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (4/29/99, pp.69-70) - 3 1/2 Stars (out of 5) - "...Bachman succeeds in the areas where your average gifted power popster fails: sensitive singer-songwriter tunes..."
Entertainment Weekly (4/16/99, p.61) - "On this winsome debut, the son of Guess Who/BTO axman Randy Bachman makes infectious poprock that's closer in spirit to Badfinger than to his dad's bluecollar stomp....one of the most satisfying pop discs in recent memory." - Rating: B+
Q (1/00, p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...eminently appealing....this is a debut overflowing with voluminous melodies that betray an understanding of '70s Americana....immediately infectious."
