Walter Egan (1)
Not Shy
Album Review
Record Label: Razor & Tie Entertainment
Released: 1993
Album Review
On Fundamental Roll, Walter Egan's first LP, coproducers Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks played and sang voluptuous rings around Egan's lethargic innocence–to the album's advantage, though not to Egan's. It looked like he was riding in on someone else's surfboard. But Not Shy proves that Egan is an honorable man. He leads his own band now, and Buckingham's and Nicks' performances have been drastically curtailed. When these two aren't around, the sound is as scrubbed and severe as an empty room. You can hear Egan holding his elbows tight to his side when he plays–a man determined that this time his reach is not going to exceed his own grasp.
Still, there's something attractive about Not Shy's rigid circumspection. Along with too heavy a dependence on famous friends, Egan's renounced all flash and gimmickry; it's as though he doesn't want to be accused of taking any kind of unfair advantage. He's traded in last year's soupedup adolescent vehicles ("When I Get My Wheels," "Surfin' and Drivin'") for adult economy models ("Star in the Dust," "Make It Alone"). Instead of mimicking teen dreams, he's analyzing them: "Just the wanting alone was worth it/Just the thrill and desire." Instead of fads, Egan's now dealing in the hard currency of melody and beat, but he's paying his own way with the proud, tight reserve of a poor relation.
It's not only gimmicks he's dispensed with, it's excitement as well–as if they were both deceitful illusions. He's singing "I Wannit," but the music's saying, "please," and there's no urgency at all in the lock-step drums and prim harmonies. A guitar works up to a high note on "Unloved," then pulls back immediately–like, God forbid, it should leave you hanging, wanting more. Walter Egan may sing about the thrill of desire, but he's careful not to arouse it. And in making no promises he can't keep, he forgets that rock & roll has always held out the offer of more than anyone has a right to expect. (RS 270)
ARIEL SWARTLEY
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