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PAUL BENSHOOF The Best of Me Label: TMPB Recordings, Cloudcroft, NM Format: CD ($14.49) or MP3 Digital Download ($9.99) 
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Review by The Minstrel Avenue Record: After a musical journey spanning more than 30 years which includes six studio albums, a live album, and production credits for a variety of independent artists, it is testament to Paul Benshoof's impact that his songs see a welcome, full compilation release as The Best of Me. Even if you're one of those who has already fallen deeply for those whimsical, yet deceptively heady, heartfelt songs, this collection also includes two incredible new tracks that expand the emotional reach and story behind the album--and in fact the story behind Benshoof's life as a singer-songwriter. And, what a story that is. Many of the songs were written during a period of transition and isolation, beginning in his late teens, when Paul, a rock-n-roll-driven son of a classically-minded music education professor, was starting to question his sense of self, purpose and place in the world beyond academics and discipline. The songs resonate beautifully, despite the dissonance of the raw, emotional materials from which they are delicately constructed. The immediacy of the arrangements heighten this atmosphere further and you are impossibly drawn into a fervently fluctuating, animated space...and then led safely through it. Throughout, Benshoof's exciting artistic palate of self-taught guitar and piano playing is an intuitive and sensitive frame that surrounds a powerfully sincere yet unassuming voice, older-sounding from the disarming wisdom in his words. Joined with intriguing and dynamic arrangements of complementary instruments and rich vocal harmonies, The Best of Me takes you on an unforgettable musical expedition through life's celebrations, disappointments, and lunacy. It starts out deep in the artist's wheelhouse with the album's title track, a creative overture which ingeniously incorporates lines from all of the other songs on the disc. Musically and lyrically, the remaining tunes range from carefree rock to introspective folk sprinkled with a smattering of classical and pop reverberations. Perhaps the best example of Benshoof's knack for shifting arrangements is the epic Should the Music Ever Fail, featuring an entwining of sensitive ballad-like verses with a rock-driven bridge and classical piano interludes without changing the fundamental DNA of Paul's signature sound. Although The Best of Me is primarily a collection of fan-favorites from each of Benshoof's previous releases--a body of work spanning three decades--the result is a cohesive assemblage that draws out the natural warmth of his songs, coursing with the sonic chemistry that boldly pushed them into uncharted territory all those years ago. But even so, they still sound fresh and inviting today. |
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