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Written by Amanda Pelle Wednesday, 28 March 2007 14:29

At best, Taglieri's musical abilities, especially those portrayed in "Wide Awake & Dreaming," the album's namesake, might be suitable for a modern church choir.

"I can't help but feeling/ That my best is yet to be/ 'Cause somewhere there's something/ Better waiting for me." Um, yes. There is. And singing is not a part of it.

While John Taglieri's fourth album, Wide Awake & Dreaming, has its moments of mediocrity, those semi-miserable moments can be found only sporadically, and almost exclusively in the instrumentals. "La Pregunta de Corazon" and "Reprise," for example, are monumentally antonymous in comparison to their counterpart tracks. In all fairness, "La Pregunta de Corazon" flows beautifully into the song it precedes. However, its successor is, as are the other tracks on the album, nothing more than awful poetry recited to music.

At best, Taglieri's musical abilities, especially those portrayed in "Wide Awake & Dreaming," the album's namesake, might be suitable for a modern church choir. This track projects reasonably decent acoustics and energetic, Hallelujah-praise-the-Lord moments that one might experience in church.

Beyond the faint suggestion of a potential career in Christian rock, a few funky guitar hooks, and fractions of the introductory vocals in "Falling Through" contribute to the vague reminiscence of Bryan Adams in his 18 til i die days. However, the similarities end there. The lyrics themselves, though charmingly discernable in a musical era accepting of mumbled rock, are poorly pieced into lackluster rhymes. The accompanying vocals are mostly pitchy and rhythm deficient.

Being a bad musician is one thing; disgusting lyrics accompanying bad music is quite another. "WAKE UP!" and "Think of You," sabotage any remaining shreds of hope for Wide Awake & Dreaming with the obnoxious beeping of an alarm clock, immediately followed by repulsive anecdotes about dog piss and cat puke. Taglieri's choppy vocals and amateur lyrics need a bit more fine tuning before I'll consider requesting "Reprise." D | Amanda Pelle