Satellite, UFO, Jet Plane, or Star by Chris Elliott

Occasionally I worried that Elliott's songs might slip into the journal-entry variety -- and how many good songwriter doesn't have a few of those? But clearly he's aware of this potential trap, giving even "Heavy Metal Dayz" ("Back in the days before throwing up lost its glamour") a serious undertone under the frat-boy persona. He confirms his true identity as a mature songwriter in the next track, "Rose for a Blue Jay," a delightful love song that won the Portland Songwriters Association Songwriting Contest in the folk acoustic category. "Promise me Ann Marie/Falling like mercury/Love that's in vain but in time/A snapshot on Sunday/A rose for a blue jay/A heart no border will ever confine."

"Everything But You" is another fine ballad that showcases Elliott's talent for melody and his sensitive vocal delivery. Another highlight for me is "Promises, Promises," in which Elliott complains about a Jehovah's Witness at the door ("Was waitin' for the pizza man just mindin' my business/When up to the door comes a Jehovah's Witness/He said, 'Are you ready for the coming of Jesus?'/I said, 'No, I'm just waitin' for a pepperoni pizza.'") It has a Barenaked Ladies-style glee to it, and is (like the Ladies' songs) very well written and witty.

-- by Joy McKay, Rambles.NET

***

"Satellite UFO Jet Plane or Star" is the third CD to be put out by Chris Elliott, a singer/songwriter and poet from Boston, Mass. Chris sings and plays the acoustic guitar but has also enlisted the help of 11 guest musicians, so what you have here is the sound of a full band. On 4 of the 14 tracks the vocal harmonies are supplied by Lisa Austin, with whom Chris also performs as the duo Austin & Elliott.

The title for the album is taken from a line in the second song on the album called 'Ginger & Ned' -- a song that proves drink and drive just don't mix. For the most part the songs are well written with themes based on love, war, death, heavy metal music, dishwasher in a restaurant, America, to name a few. Most are set in Americana folk rock mode, with good steady predictable tunes. Influences by Bob Dylan, Loudon Wainwright III, and Randy Newman can be detected, but there is nothing wrong with that. The songs are all recorded well, so you can hear all the lyrics. I wasn't surprised to find out that two of my three favourite tracks 'Rose for a Blue Jay' and 'Promises, Promises' have already won or have been a finalist in U.S.A. song-writing contests.

One thing I liked most about this album is that the songs are all varied, demonstrating Chris's ability to pen different sorts of songs and the fact that he's not stuck in any one groove. Worthy of an extra mention is my other favourite track 'Raven on the Wire' which reminds me of something Show of Hands might have come up with. So there you have it, a nice album, any singer songwriter should be proud of.

-- by Peter Massey, Senior Writer, www.greenmanreview.com

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