MASON – I Can’t Wait

Breaking into the music scene as an independent artist can be tough, as finding the right niche where you can make your mark has many challenges, the first of which is capturing as unique of a sound as possible. Not all who try can hit that mark, and unfortunately, Mason – I Can’t Wait is a prime example.

The Band

Marcus Mason is the Canadian born multi-instrumentalist who’s created I Can’t Wait with the help of Jimmy Katone on drums, Peter Penhallow on keyboards, and Josef “Peppi” Gebhard on lead guitar. The album also includes quite a few guest musicians on different tracks, including Paul Piccari and Steve Cocchi (Hit The Ground Runnin’), Bella Perron (Plush), Jon Willoughby (Neill) (Bombay, Rio, Starseedz), John McAfee (The Affair, Big Game, Whitehead & Mac), and Markus Pfeffer (Barnabas Sky, Atlantis Drive, Lazerus Dream, Mystery Moon). The musicians are all very talented, yet the end product has a sameness about every track that tends to lead to boredom only a few songs in.

Production

Mason – I Can’t Wait was mixed by Sergey Cohen and Steve Negus (Saga), and mastered by Chris Siloma at C.S.M.&P. Studios. Produced by Marcus Mason an co-Produced by Jimmy Katone, the album has an easy listening quality that fans of the genre would enjoy, if not for certain problems with the overall package. The main issue is this: all ten songs on the album are at exactly 120 beats per minute, which is a dreadful tax on the listener, causing all of the songs to just run together in one mind numbing parade of blandness. The human brain will tune out and turn off when encountering this sameness, even if the songs have different melodies, etc. The album also has a brittle sound, as the high frequencies are biting, and unpleasant to the ear.

Final Notes

Mason – I Can’t Wait could have been a decent release if the artist would have considered the fact that giving the listener 10 songs in a row at the identical tempo turns everything vanilla. There’s nothing wrong with a single serving of vanilla, but would you eat it 10 times in a row? The guitar riffs are also so similar from track to track that the listener can easily lose track of what song is what. For those who would pick and choose a single cut or two, The opening song is probably the best of the lot. Summing it all up: the album could have used some faster songs, and is crying out for a couple of ballads. Maybe Mason can learn from these mistakes and improve on this for their next release, but it’s hard to recommend an album that drones the listener to sleep.

Lineup

• Marcus Mason – Vocals, Bass, Rhythm & Lead Guitars
• Jimmy Katone (Hit The Ground Runnin, Katone) – Drums
• Peter Penhallow (Eye, Joseph Court, Bobby Barth, Vince Welnick) – Keys
• Josef “Peppi” Gebhard (4-Sale) – Lead Guitars

Additional Musicians

• Bella Perron – Guitars (Solo & Outro on Track 6)
• Jon Willoughby (Neill) – Guitars (Solo on Track 5)
• John McAfee – Guitars (Lead & Solo on Track 3)
• Markus Pfeffer – Guitars (Solo on Track 8)
• Paul Piccari – Bass (Track 1)
• Steve Cocchi – Keyboards (Track 8)
• Doug Varty – Guitars & Backing Vocals (Track 11)

I Cant’s Wait – Tracklist

1. One Life
2. I Can’t Wait
3. It’s Okay To Cry
4. Turn Me Around
5. Whatever It Takes
6. My Desire
7. Hands Off
8. All That Remains
9. We Were Young
10. Everybody Wants Some Love (Linman Cover / CD Bonus Track)
11. 2 Heart (CD Bonus Track)

Check out the new video for “I Can’t Wait” by Mason off of his new album: I Can’t Wait