Tait - So Many Ways

Ok, so this album has been out a while, but the single She has been making waves (no pun intended) on the radio, and sports a stunning video. Having enjoyed the first album Back Seat Driver I was interested and very excited to see what Chris and the boys would come up with following an album that brought us hits like In these arms.

She opens the album with a bang. The first impression I had was that here is a slightly more polished production, a lttle liss rock 'n roll boogie and a bit more "oomph" in this offering, but one song is early days! Great guitar sounds permeate the song, which was welcome as the tone on some of the rockers on Back Seat Driver got a bit thin sometimes for my liking, but this is personal preference. This album has a lot of bottom-end and a bit more muscle.

As you proceed through the album, Tait's rocker roots are definitely well-presented, with Crazy standing out as a favourite. By the third or the fourth song another realisation takes place, and that is that Chris's vocals are either much better produced, or he has grown in that area, as his delivery is full, rounded and carries just the right amount of light and shade to bring the lyrics up to ones attention.

Fast-tracking to Beautiful Soul, a hauntingly beautiful ballad dedicated to Tait's late guitarist Quinton who was murdered about 2 years ago. The danger with a song like that is it could come across sentimental, and I'm always weary of dedicated offerings (no offense to Judaists or other religions), as the listener is always in a position of not really being able to judge the music freely, as such a song seems almost sacred. As a reviewer it wrenches my gut to judge a sincere ode to someone else, but in this case I can honestly say that I wouldn't change that song one bit, it is well written, well performed and a fantastic piece of music.

Now for the things I noticed that I would site as concerns. Tait's rocky offerings (bar one or 2) becomes almost filler material when compared to his slower, mid-tempo, slightly less guitar driven, more pop sound. So many ways, Cross the line and Ordinary day is the Tait I would like to encounter on the next album. Being a rocker at heart myself, this is not a preference thing, but Chris's voice, tone and songwriting seems to just suit a slightly more adult contemporary (Chris forgive me for that!) sound. Resemblance to Train aside, this is where his sound comes alive, and especially his songwriting is complemented by his band's sound. At live shows I have gotten the impression that with their rock numbers one encounters a single tone wall of sound, whereas his ballads and more textured offerings are immediately engaging and for a lack of a better word, better.

On one of Chris's myspace sites, he offers some of the demos that didn't make the cut for this album, and in my opinion, those songs would all have made it onto the album in the place of some of his rock numbers with the exception of She and one or 2 others.

My favourite song on the album would however be Cross the Line. This is where I think Tait is seriously happening.

In conclusion, this is another solid offering from a totally underpublicised act on the SA scene, a professional product that deserves much more in the media than it is getting. Tait is definitely deserving of a bigger following than it is currently enjoying, especially among the music buying public. To access his album and maybe buy one or 2 songs follow the ling below:

MP3s available at

Rhythm Online Music Store