Chuck Taylors and The Pillows

Ryan Cabrera

Before I bought this CD, all I really knew about this guy is he is or was or was gonna be Ashlee Simpson's boyfriend. After I bought his debut album, "Take It All Away," I knew he was a really great singer/songwriter who I'm glad to own. I know most of you have read me bragging about how I own CDs where the artists have written 4 or the 13 songs or whatever, but Ryan has written all of the 12 tracks on this CD. It kinda made me feel like I was listening to inferior artists before, then I realized I was referring to Hilary Duff and stopped thinking that way. Seriously though, this guy is really good, his producer is John Rzeznik from the Goo Goo Dolls and you can tell in some songs, especially the song co-written by Rzeznik, "Illusions." Ryan sounds like a Goo Goo Doll in it, almost a little scary how similar they sound when they aim for it. Not all of his songs are Goo Goo Dolly however, he has some pleasantly popy songs, some rockin' songs, and some nice traditional singer/songwriter stuff. I have to say I really enjoyed this CD and would recommend this to everyone. Listen to him fast before he is commercialized, being associated with a Simpson may do that to him. Later Days.