Track Listing

1. See the Sky Again
2. Grind Me in the Gears
3. Cleveland Park
4. I'll Be
5. How Strange It Seems
6. Rhythm of Life
7. Punish Me
8. Darwin's Children
9. Take Me
10. (I've Got to) Stop Thinkin' 'Bout That
11. What Matters
12. Holy City

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8721 in Music
• Published on: 1997-01-01
• Released on: 1997-06-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com
Edwin McCain landed a major-label contract on the strength of his sets opening shows for his old South Carolina buddies, Hootie and the Blowfish. McCain's major-label debut, 1995's Honor Among Thieves, featured a duet with Hootie's Darius Rucker, and closely resembled the Blowfish formula of earnest soul vocals over acoustic-led folk-rock. On the followup, Misguided Roses, McCain tries to put some distance between himself and his famous mentors by adopting a fuller, more amplified pop-rock sound. It's an approach that shows off McCain's handsome tenor and his knack for writing catchy choruses, even if it does nothing for his melodramatic lyrics.

Recorded in Nashville with session vets Matt Rollings and Kenny Greenberg producing, Misguided Roses gains its full textures from the tightly packed layers of guitars and keyboards. If these mid-'70s, Southern-California arrangements remind one of the second-generation Doobie Brothers, you won't be surprised to find Michael McDonald matching his grainy, blue-eyed soul voice with McCain's on two numbers. And when McCain comes up with a Top-40-radio hook as effective as those on "I'll Be," "Darwin's Children," and "Holy City," you might find yourself wishing you didn't understand English so you could enjoy the music without hearing lines as stilted as "Emeralds from mountains thrust towards the sky." --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews

And to think I'd never heard of him before!
I only came across this CD because I remembered a line from "I'll Be" and wanted to find out what song it was from. When I came across Edwin McCain, the first thing that popped into my mind was, "Who is he?" I had never heard of him before. However, after listening to some of the samples listed on Amazon and reading a couple reviews, I went ahead and bought "Misguided Roses." Let me tell you, it's not something I've regretted. Being a woodwind player of flute, alto and soprano saxophone and recently clarinet, I am very interested in the instrumentation that Edwin McCain uses in his songs. "I'll Be" has an interesting saxophone melody (which you most likely would not have noticed on the radio). In addition, "Darwin's Children" (a song that you will completely fall in love with if you are a fan of "I'll Be") uses baritone saxophone as a main feature of the song. The woodwind voice adds a certain quality to the music that you won't get in other rock bands. "Misguided Roses" is a CD that is good for long car drives, or anywhere, for that matter. When you're listening to Edwin McCain, there's no need to keep on skipping tracks - this CD is good the whole way through. And unlike some muisician[s] ..., Edwin McCain wrote all of the songs on the CD himself, adding a certain respect to his work. "Misguided Roses" is a CD that everyone should have! I definitely reccomend it. Like me, you wont regret buying it.

Edwin McCain...the "unknown"
I had never heard of Edwin McCain until I heard the song "I'll Be" on the radio a little while ago. I fell in love with it and would sing it throughout the day. Still though, I didn't know who was the brilliant singer. It wasn't until I saw the soundtrack for "A Cinderella Story" that I finally found out who sang this! I HAD to have the CD! I must say, although my favorite song is still probably "I'll Be", I love all of the songs on this CD. (Now I have more songs to sing throughout the day!!) Each song is different--and beautiful--in its own way. If you like "I'll Be", I'm sure you'll like the CD!

Strong Performance
Edwin McCain stepped up the acoustic rock formula for his "Misguided Roses" album, provide a soul-filled album that stands out. His songs are more than just lyrics, but are more stories set to music. The band provides a great vehicle to carry the songs. With Larry Chaney playing lead, Dave Harrison on drums, Craig Shields picking up everything else from horns to keyboards, and Scott Bannevich on the bottom provide the upbeat music on this release.

The album begins in a great groove with "See the Sky Again" with a great opening riff from Chaney shortly followed by McCain's gruff voice. Chaney and McCain play off of each other well with vocals and guitar, and acoustic and electric guitars, building to a powerful end. Another great tune is "Cleveland Park" a much more laid back song relying on arpeggio chords from the acoustic guitar double with a strummed rhythm. "I'll Be" is the ballad of the album, and McCain croons well. "How Strange It Seems" has a good baseline from Bannevich, and a bluesy feel from Chaney. The same formula works again on "Darwin's Children", but I like McCain's voice better here, plus there's a good sax work from Shields here as well. Add in the cover of James Taylor's "(I've Got to) Stop Thinkin' `Bout That" and you have a pretty good album here.

McCain and crew have a lot of talent, and lay down some great music. I think McCain is one of the better bands in this genre of music, and they are fun to listen to. Definitely worth the price of the disk, and worth a listen.