Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Neal Rosner — Love Isn't the Answer
((Not on label) CALLYDA001, 1999/2024, CD)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-10-25

Love Isn't the Answer Cover art

The album Anomaly by McLuhan stands as a remarkable example of truly innovative American music in the early 70s, and it’s a shame that it never reached a wider audience — and that the band split up shortly after its release. Neal Rosner was the bassist in McLuhan, and after Anomaly, he went on to medical school and a career outside of music. Lately, after retiring from that, he’s returned to music, and the reissue of his 1999 solo album Love Isn’t the Answer is part of that renewed activity. On it, Rosner is credited for vocals, keyboards, programmed drums, and bass on one track. The only other participants are guitarist Martin Mayer and vocalist Barbara Hoekstra. It’s a set of thirteen songs (plus one really annoying spoken track) touching on various styles, from blues rock to reggae, and comes off as a kind of songwriter’s demonstration of breadth. Rosner is a good singer, and his lyrics are occasionally in Spanish, though he does touch on a pet peeve of mine, which involves slipping into a fake accent when singing a song with a reggae rhythm. Musically, it’s quite competent, if a bit generic, and enjoyable enough while it plays, but there’s nothing that really sticks in the memory after it’s over. Love Isn’t the Answer, for me at least, is of interest only as a footnote to the story of McLuhan.

Filed under: Reissues, 2024 releases, 1999 recordings

Related artist(s): Neal Rosner

More info
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nZ4bgA7HAEcPAkz2vlpm56NQRVbo0NP74

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.