Mike Gibbins-More Annoying Songs

More Annoying Songs is Mike Gibbins second solo album. His first album, A Place In Time from 1997 proved that Mike is still capable of writing really good songs, and also that his voice still is in very good shape. The production of A Place In Time was a bit flat though, which was a shame, because songs like Time In, Layaway and Day After Night are as good as Mike's best writing with Badfinger. On More Annoying Songs the sound/production has improved a lot. There is loads of great guitar playing from Rick Warsing, who also assisted Mike on A Place In Time. The songs are generally more bluesy than on the first album, and many are very long, some perhaps too long. Mike's voice still sounds great, occasionally more rough than on A Place In Time.

The first track, "Wired" is a very long (9.46) bluesy track with a lot of great guitar playing from Rick Warsing. A good opener, if you ignore its length! Next is "Two And Two" which is another blues/rocker, not very memorable. Former Iveys member Ron Griffiths sings lead on the next track "Time Will Tell Us". He sings this psychedelic rocker with a voice that comes close to Gary Brooker of Procol Harum. A nice harmonica break in the middle. Warsing's guitar helps this track a lot. "Chains" is the track where Mike's sense of melody really shows. A great melodic intro that immediately catches my attention. This song is a highlight of the album. "Dirty Old Bugger" is an untraditional piano dominated song. It's a slow song with some fast guitar breaks in the middle. One of the best songs on the album. It also features a solo from Mike on the drums - not a very common thing these days. Mike still knows his way around the drums!!!

"Oxydynamo", a slow blues song. Actually not much of a real song. If it hadn't been for Warsing's guitar it would have been a real bore. And it goes on for much too long. "Love Song" is another of the better songs, dominated by Mike's stacato piano. Unfortunately it never really gets going, drums are missing. Like "Chains", "Hold On To Your Dreams" is a very catchy song. A great melody arranged beautifully with nice playing from Warsing. Another highlight of the album. The album ends with "Dream On/Fall To Pieces", which is two tracks tied together. Much in the same way, as the songs on Wish You Were Here. Though the track is a bit too long(9.37), none of the songs could have stood alone. Still it's a great track to end an album.

So you can conlude that production-wise this album is a big step forward, and the peformances are great. Personally I think an acoustic guitar on most of the tracks would have helped the album a lot. Also it could have done with a couple of more melodic songs. Maybe Mike could have re-recorded some of the best songs from A Place In Time. Still the CD is a must for every Badfinger fan.