Rod MacDonald

By the time he self-released Guilty Pleasures in 2003, Rod MacDonald, as revealed on the love songs included on his 2002 regular album, Recognition (released on the Swiss Brambus label and later in the U.S. on Wind River Records), had settled down and gotten married. But in years previous, he had had romantic adventures often detailed in his songs, and he has gathered up some of the ones that never made it onto his other regular albums for this effort (available at www.rodmacdonald.net). The situation may be summed up in "True Love," which, after verses detailing the ups and downs of romance, declares, "True love must be a miracle to find, or is it just a state of mind?" MacDonald pursues such investigations in typically melodic tunes, singing in his clear tenor over attractive folk-pop arrangements. He is often generous and considerate of his partners, sometimes pledging eternal love, even though he is just as often singing "I Remember You" or "So Long, Love." Several of the songs are more than worthy to have appeared on his regular albums, notably "My Last Days of Monique," one of the more convoluted and compelling romantic tales, which boasts an arrangement with a Southwest flavor featuring a violin that is reminiscent of some of the songs on Bob Dylan's Desire. But then, the overall quality of the material is what justifies giving the songs the release they receive here. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide