Mixed bag
"The Sky's The Limit" is the new album from US singer/songwriter Ransom Briggs. Coming from a musical family and with support slots with the likes of the Dixie Chicks and Alabama under his belt, I was expecting big things from this album.
"Odd" I think is probably the best way to describe it. After all, how many albums kick off with a smooth guitar track, over which, in a sleazy voice, the artist's copyright and website details are laid out!? Add to that the rather cheesy accompanying photographs of Ransom posing with his shirt open, and the slightly off-kilter tunes on the album; altogether, a rather strange little package! It almost feels like the cheesy release you'd expect from a boy band member who was going solo; still retaining the pretty boy image, but making up for it by trying so hard to record something different and original that it loses sincerity and fails to hit the right note.
The primarily acoustic album, which was written, recorded, produced and engineered by Ransom Briggs himself, has a catchy country rock vibe that had my foot tapping without me realising it, but unfortunately the somewhat melancholy ballads, that drastically outweighed the aforementioned catchy country tracks, dragged so much that I couldn't wait for them to finish. For every good thing on this album, there's something bad there to match it as well; it's a confusing release, with which I could not get comfortable. Just as I thought I'd worked out where Ransom Briggs was coming from, the album would veer off in a new direction that completely changed my opinion.
Despite the reek of cheese throughout the album, it has to be said that Ransom Briggs is a talented musician; he's not a bad singer and there is some pretty intricate guitar playing in places. I would imagine that with a bit of guidance and a definite direction, he could be a huge hit but I did not get what this album was about at all.
I suppose this could be a nice album to play as background noise at a summer party – it's light and easy-going, but it's not something I would play for entertainment.
Ransom Briggs is a guy who likes to talk big, but "The Sky's The Limit" was a huge disappointment for me. Better luck next time!
For further information about the man himself, check out his website: www.ransombriggs.com