James McCarty - Out Of The Dark (1994)

Jim McCarty has had a long, varied history. First, he was drummer/backing vocalist/songwriter for the pioneering British invasion band, the Yardbirds. Then, he performed the same role as a founding member of one of the first progessive rock bands, Renaissance. Then, in the mid 70's, he and other members of Renaissance formed another prog band, Illusion, where he was the primary creative force and songwriter, acoustic guitar player, and sung lead vocals along with Jane Relf.
This, his first solo album, shows yet another side of Jim's talent. Jim, again, wrote and sings all the songs, but moves to keyboards, as well as playing some of the drums. While the lyrics explore, as he usually does, mystical themes and feelings, this time he puts them together with gentle pop sounds. While he isn't the strongest singer in the world, his lead vocals are better here than with Illusion or Renaissance, very much out in front of the songs. The title songs pleasantly opens things up. My other favorites are the hypnotic, drifting "Signs from an Age Gone By" and the cheerful closer "Back to the Earth". Renaissance fans will like the fact that Jane Relf returns for some backing vocals. The best performance by her is on the love song "Just a Breath Away", a percussion-less ballad in which she harmonizes gorgeously with Jim.
The rest of the album is a relaxing listen from beginning to end. It's extremely gentle music, only slighly resembling Jim's earlier prog work. At only 40 minutes, though, it's not boring, and it's more conventionally "hooky" than instrumental New Age music. Nice music if you're in a mellow mood, or want to be in one. ~ By R. Josef