Blessid Union Of Souls Walking Off The Buzz Lyrics

On Walking Off the Buzz, Blessid Union of Souls skate from adult contemporary soul to roots rock, failing to do either well. Lead singer Eliot Sloan has a fine R&B-suited voice, but he attempts to add unnatural depth, ache, and character. It sounds like every few seconds someone tightly grips his neck then releases it. With forgettable jangly acoustic-guitar rhythms, uninspired keyboard support, and ho-hum love lyrics and pointless pop-culture references, these songs are about as deep as a kiddie pool (which makes their by-the-sheet-music cover of the Beatles' "Revolution" insultingly misplaced). With the exception of "Stone Glass Window," which flashes an attractively toothy Southern-rock smile, this album is Mellencamp without the melodrama, Skynyrd without the scrotum, Kravitz without the charisma, P.M. Dawn without the poetry. --Beth Massa