Mark Spiro - Now is Then, Then Is Now
The name Mark Spiro is one you might not be familiar with. He is best known as a songwriter. For example, on the first Giant album, which just happens to one of my favorites, he is co-writer on most of the songs. He has also worked with Bad English. It's therefore no surprise that both Dan Huff and John Waite appear as co-writers on one track each.
Songwriters making their own albums can be a bit a disaster, for example Jim Steinman. This is not the case here. Mark Spiro's voice is excellent and musically things are ticking along nicely as well. The overall sound of the album could be described as sophisticated lightweight rock. A combination of Bad English and Giant's 'Last Of The Runaways'.
The longer I listen to this album to more I like it. There is enough variety to keep me interested on repeated listens. It's difficult to select the highlights, because my opinion tends to shift with each repeated listen. If I were to select a favorite song on each listen, then eventually I would have selected, at some point, virtually every song on the album.
If you are reading this review, then you've probably got a few Mark Spiro songs lurking in you collection already. If you like the ones you've got already, then you definitely won't be disappointed with this collection performed by the man himself.
Rating : 9
