PopSyndicate.com

...a throwback to the ’80s pop, but with a 21st century feel.

The wacky, fun cover of Mad Love should be enough to grab your attention. The artwork filled with comic book images, classic horror movies and TV shows, cereal boxes, Frazetta’s “Conan” and a KISS love gun are all part of a collage sitting outside of Doug Bryan’s office at his full service production house in Dallas, TX.

The creative madness that Bryan lays down on the 15 original tracks that fill this pop album are a combination of obvious influences, but Bryan places his mark on each for a fresh feel. The second song, “Brand New Heartbeat”, could’ve easily been a piece from an Elvis Costello or Nick Gilder album. “Here They Come Again” and the balladesque “Too Close To Home” reveal a Squeeze influence with a hint of The Beatles.

A fun little shuffle blues-pop piece that contains some harmonica sounds and acoustic guitar is early Bob Dylan all over, except you can understand everything Bryan sings with his nice clean, vocals.

There are a nice mix of pop songs and ballads on Mad Love. One of my favorites is the song “Vanishing Eyes.” The marimba and classical guitar mix with the plaintive lyrics and mournful voice. It’s a very melancholy song that sticks with you and plays through your head throughout the day.

Some of the more upbeat songs that are fun to sing along with are “Runaway” (not the Del Shannon or Bon Jovi songs) and ”She’s In Love.” “Long Gone,” the tune that gets the album rolling, has a lot of acoustic guitar and a bass that walks through the quirky song. It has a nice little electric lead that is full of distortion and the use of a wah-wah that pops up here and there.

The production is very slick. It would be interesting to hear some of the tracks in a live venue to hear the songs dirtied up a little or to really get into the heartfelt soul of some of the music.

The disc hasn’t found a major distributor, yet, so check it out at Bryan’s MySpace site. The album is definitely a throwback to the ’80s pop, but with a 21st century feel. Lots of fun and something I’ve enjoyed playing several times.

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