Rob Thomas is no doubt one of today’s most powerful voices in rock music. Powerful in a sense that his voice is one of the most recognizable. He is also a very good song writer and has proven in 2005 that he can write music outside of Matchbox Twenty with his debut solo album …Something to Be. Now, four years after Something to Be, Thomas is rolling out another solo album, Cradlesong.
What could Rob Thomas fans expect from this new album? Well, it depends on the kind of ear for music they have. As for me, the best song he has written so far is “Bent” and has yet to write another song that would top that. Cradlesong does not contain a song that could better “Bent”. That’s just me saying it, that’s how I see it and other people may think otherwise. I am not saying that Cradlesong does not shine, for it does. This album works the way it is intended to work–to give us Rob Thomas and Matchbox Twenty fans a straight-forward rock album that is worth including in our meticulous collection of rock albums from musicians we really respect. But as I have said, Cradlesong leaves me longing for something.
I have been waiting for another real gem from Rob Thomas’ mind, but he hasn’t given it to me in this new album. Yes, the songwriting in Cradlesong shows a lot of maturity when compared to the Matchbox Twentyesque Something to Be and the early Matchbox Twenty albums, but I guess something has gone from Thomas’ writing style. Gone is the drama, the recklessness, and the sense of freedom that was the very source of the power of his earlier songs. Does age make us uncool?
Thomas is 40 something now? I don’t think so. Probably I just need to hear the album more to hear things in it that are not immediately apparent. Anyway, I have listened to the album only twice, I hope I will hear some things that I haven’t heard in the album if I listen to it again.
