CD Review by MuzikReviews

Mike McCarroll is a sure fire bet to become a working class hero if his music catches on. McCarroll started his own business once the kids grew up and he was satisfied enough to give it his best shot, knowing there was nothing to distract or stop him. After paying some dues and building a successful business venture (‘Business Traveler Blues”) was in place, it was time to grab his guitar, head into the studio, and make the album he always wanted to (“At The Crossroads”). 

He was literally At The Crossroads of his life when this album got started. There could not have been a better title to have for his lifetime of waiting and his first album of studio material. 

At The Crossroads is 12 tracks of fired up blues, rock and country. It is about real life, what can happen along the way and most importantly the right and wrong decisions in our travels that shaped our lives into what it is today (“Must’ve Been Crazy”). This is what McCarroll sings about with passion, grace, and heartfelt words. Along the way, he plays some blistering guitar lines, pumping out blues, rock and country licks to give the album an overall atmosphere that speaks of life, love and the pursuit of happiness. 

I think the reason this album appealed me so much is because Mike is a man after my own heart, he followed his dreams and worked his ass off with an eventual return on his investment. Nothing was handed to him and the bottom line is he is a very successful man in any endeavor he decides to undertake. I could totally relate to that outlook on life. Besides finding a commonality with the artist, I simply loved his music. The use of three genres that are so closely weaved together makes every story that much more interesting and tasty. Let’s face it; all three genres are kissin’ cousins, especially country and the blues. McCarroll does a nice job of separating church from state, cuts loose with tons of emotion and sweat and gives each idiom it’s just due. 

This is music encapsulates a lifetime of emotions, love, disappoint, wonder and doubt into 12 tracks of party time rug cuttin’ joy. The entire package is right here folks, its indie, its real, and it rocks. 

© MuzikReviews.com
Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-January 17, 2008 

Read this review on MuzikReviews website at:  http://www.muzikreviews.com/reviews.php?ID=157

Read this review on the new My Band's Music site at:  www.mybandsmusic.com 

CD Review by AudioOverflow:

When you receive an album from a relatively unknown artist, it's always a surprise. You look at the album wondering what to expect from lyrics, instrumentation, and overall effect of the album. When I learned that Mike McCarroll's album At The Crossroads was a fusion of country, rock and blues, I wasn't sure what to make of it. I'm always a little bit hesitant when it comes to musical fusions, because it either works or it's a complete dud. Having said that, lets get to the reason we're all here...

For the most part, I like At The Crossroads purely for the fact that this album has great potential. While it's not my favorite genres of music, it's McCarroll's heart and soul, and quite literally, stories from his life. You have to respect when an artist is not so formulated as to manufacture a song from the thoughts of, "I know this works, so I'll do this" or "everyone else is doing that, so I will too". While there are elements to this album that do not sound entirely original, it is my opinion that Mike McCarroll has indeed achieved originality.

One of the characteristics I like about this album is, it's not all the same. So often, a band/artist will produce an album where every song is a carbon copy of the song prior. McCarroll's tracks are very different from one another, both in content and sound. "Business Traveler Blues" and "Road Rage" are two songs that instantly become stories. They are both rugged, yet upbeat tracks that are entirely about what their titles claim; no metaphors here. What I love about these two songs in particular is their uniqueness. How many other songs have you heard dealing with the art of road rage? Personally, I've heard of one other and McCarroll's is surpassing by miles.

Musically, both instrumentally and vocally, there are certain tracks that I enjoy more than others, particularly "Get It On", "Saturday Night" and "House of Blues". "Get It On" is probably my favorite song on this album because I love the different sounds in this composition. At it's beginning, McCarroll sets off with a "talking" verse and then sings right into the chorus. The chorus is my favorite section as it reminds me of a good old southern, classic rock hit; it's definitely a guitar driven song, which I'm quite fond of. "Saturday Night" is strangely similar to many other country songs due to its common sounds. The chorus in particular seems to have the same structure as "A Little Less Talk and A Lot More Action", another very successful song. It's not a bad thing, as the familiarity works for him in this instance, but too much similarity will not bode well for any aspiring musician. Eventually, it becomes too routine. "House of Blues" is a very good piece that I could definitely hear as a country hit, with a little bit of tweaking. In fact, if he did not yet have this full album and only had select songs for a demo, I would highly recommend he put "House of Blues" on there, along with the two just mentioned. "House of Blues" has some elements which help its interest factor including a good use of vocal distortion in the beginning and heavy fiddle and steel guitar instrumentation, adding to the country feel. This is overall, one of McCarroll's stronger songs. The last track on the album, "I Wonder" also has a really intriguing flute feature, which grabs your attention almost immediately. It pairs nicely with the guitar...............................more......................................

Read full review on AudioOverflow's website at:  http://audiooverflow.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html