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Group Name: Skyline Drive
Website: www.skylinedriveonline.com
Album Title: Self-Titled
Song Titles:

1. Walkin’ On Air
2. I’m Already Livin’ Forever
3. Welcome To The Real World
4. Papa
5. God Did It
6. In God We Still Trust
7. Whatcha Need
8. We All Fall Down
9. I Already Know
10. Calvary’s Story
11. Give Him Control
12. Don’t Give Up

Skyline Drive is based out of the state of Alabama.  Their MySpace page (www.myspace.com/skylinedriveonline) describes them like this: “Pop Country with a Message… That’s the best way to describe the sound and lyrics of Skyline Drive, a new group that is quickly making their mark on the music industry.”  The group members are Shane Wade (tenor), Darren Morton (lead), Jamie Akin (baritone), Matthew Gossett (bass), and Kelly Morris (sound).

This self-titled album is the group’s debut album.  It contains 12 songs and was produced by lead vocalist Darren Morton and Michael Lord of LordSong. 

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: THE SONGS!

The album starts out with the country/bluegrass-styled “Walkin’ On Air”. Bass vocalist Matthew Gossett is featured on the first verse, and tenor vocalist Shane Wade is featured on the second verse and last half of the song.  Wade has a high range, with a slightly pinched and nasal sound common with a lot of tenors in Southern Gospel.  Overall, this is a good start to the album.  Next up is another up-tempo song called “I’m Already Livin’ Forever”.  This song was recorded by the Ball Brothers on their debut album a couple of years ago.  Skyline Drive does a decent job with this song- I enjoyed the addition of a bass vocalist that the Ball Brothers’ version lacked.  The tempo stays the same for the third song, “Welcome To The Real World”.  This is more of a driving, contemporary-styled song than the previous songs, and while it’s not a bad rendition, it’s probably not the perfect style for this group- although I think that they’ll be better able to tackles songs like this as the sound of the group matures and the group “gels” more.  Still, it ranks as one of my favorites from the album.  The tempo slows down for Song #4, a light, old-style country tune called “Papa”.  This is a bit different than the common “Mama” theme in Southern Gospel, which is a bit refreshing and makes it easier to listen to.  This song features some of the album’s smoothest vocal blend when the group sings the first verse of “Amazing Grace” as the song’s chorus. 

Song #5 is another up-tempo song called “God Did It”.  This is another well-done song by the group.  Next up is the first power ballad on the album, a medium-tempo song called “In God We Still Trust”.  I like the song, but the blend is a bit rough in spots.  The tempo stays about the same for the seventh song, “Whatcha Need”.  This song is in more of a modern Southern Gospel style, and it’s a good sound overall for the group.  The tempo then slows down a bit once again for Song #8, “We All Fall Down”.  The title of this makes the song sound like it would be in the praise-and-worship style, but it’s actually more of a country-influenced Southern Gospel style instead.

The ninth song, “I Already Know”, is another contemporary-sounding song with a slightly driving, medium-tempo beat.  This is immediately followed by a slightly slower, acoustically-styled song called “Calvary’s Story”.  This is a nice ballad with a strong message.  The order of the last two songs on the album is switched from how it’s listed on the back of the CD packaging.  The eleventh song is actually a slower ballad called “Don’t Give Up”.  The last song on the CD is “Give Him Control”, an up-tempo number that will have the listeners tapping their feet. 

All things considered, this is not a bad debut album for a group.  Given time to “gel”, this group’s sound should smooth out even more and they should have a firmer grip on their best style.  Some of the solos and features could be done a little bit smoother, but that will come with experience as well.  Their blend is tight in most places, but it gets a bit loos in other places.  Their bass vocalist, Matthew Gossett, is probably their strongest and smoothest vocalist, but the other three aren’t that far behind him.  I will be anxious to see how this group’s sound develops on future albums.  Overall, I would give this album a rating of 7 out of 10 microphones!

Favorites: “Walkin’ On Air”, “I’m Already Livin’ Forever”, “Welcome To The Real World”, “God Did It”, and “We All Fall Down”