Wind-Up
2003
3 Sides
About This Album
Long before he was "Bachelor Bob" on the popular ABC reality show, Bob Guiney fronted a regionally successful college rock band called Fat Amy, which had a fairly loyal following in the Midwest. With his passion for songwriting and singing and his good fortune at being thrust into the homes of millions of TV viewers, a solo album was inevitable, and luckily the results are good. Neatly balanced between heavily produced romantic modern rock songs and a handful of his old band's heavier tunes, 3 Sides holds together much better than many would expect. The radio-ready tracks ("Girlfriend," "So Wrong," "Temporary Life") fit nicely in the vein of Semisonic and Matchbox Twenty, and Guiney's growling croon is even reminiscent of Rob Thomas' dreamy, tortured balladeer's tone. The album really shines during the less clean, more raw rock numbers like "The Craziest Girl I Know," "Fortunate," and the terrific slow burn of "Come Undone." On these tunes, Guiney really seems as though he lets himself go, stripping away the afternoons on Oprah's couch and rose ceremonies, letting the raw emotion and his genuine love of singing pour through. The exact opposite could be said of the unfortunate misstep "Spare Minute," which replaces Guiney's capable singing voice with a faux-rap that sounds wildly out of place. Luckily, this clumsy fit is the only real clunker on the album, and the rest of the songs lock together with a real thread of continuity, despite the fact that the roots of some of the songs are nearly ten years old. While 3 Sides is not <b>The Most. Dramatic. CD. Ever</b>, it is an admirable stab at emotional radio-friendly rock that will certainly satisfy those who swooned over his TV persona and hopefully win over listeners who are willing to listen past his smoochy bachelor image. ~ Zac Johnson, All Music Guide
Track List (try tracks 1,3,4 and 5)

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