Sleeping on Roads

They Say...

Review by Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

In which Neil Halstead is finally able to show everyone that he is the real talent of Mojave 3! Hurrah! OK, maybe not: Anyone who has looked at songwriting credits on a Mojave 3 record will tell you that the idea of a Halstead solo record sounds completely pointless. Even a casual fan is led to believe that Halstead's band is his band -- meaning he writes the songs and calls the shots. With a Halstead solo record a reality, you have to fight the urge to throw your arms up in puzzlement because the wrong member of Mojave 3 has made a solo record. History says that the second fiddle goes off to release a work of his own; the one who writes most of the material -- or, in this case, almost everything -- doesn't need another outlet. But apparently listeners have been duped and Mojave 3 is more of a democracy than had been imagined. More importantly, Halstead is too prolific and restless to leave these previously orphaned songs unrecorded. So, after a relationship bust-up that left him homeless, he set up shop in a hospitable studio and made a record with some friends pitching in. One of those friends was Mojave 3 drummer Ian McCutcheon, so it could be said that this record is a la-la-la and a few basslines away from a Mojave 3 record. It certainly doesn't sound that much different from a Mojave 3 record, if not quite as excellent due to the less than prime quality of some of the songs. Aside from a prominent synth shading here, an uncharacteristically loud burst of guitar there, and Halstead's preference to pick instead of strum, this is a logical, if rather slight, progression from the third Mojave 3 record. And that's just fine, actually.