Josh Hogan @ 17 features the self-taught Josh Hogan on Acoustic/Lead/Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Drums and Vocals. Check out Josh Hogan's Myspace page. www.myspace.com/joshhoganmusic Josh Hogan is also a current member of The Little Loius Band. www.littlelouisband.net Josh Hogan @ 17 also features Samantha Hogan on Keyboards and Backup Vocals. Jacob Klimchuk on Drums. Mike Haley also on Lead/Rhythm Guitar. David Lee Klimchuk on Saxophone. Cover Photo by Rachel McMahon.
OK, on with the review. This CD strikes me as a demo for Josh Hogan's diverse talents as a musician because it contains 10 great, classic rock cover songs. Any working club band would benefit from Josh's excellent talents as a singer, guitarist, bassist or drummer as evidenced by this CD. On top of all that this CD also contains 5 original songs, all of which Josh has writing credits on! 7 of the cover songs on this CD can be described as "Classic Rock". The CD starts off with a bang with "Rock and Roll All Nite". This song is a great opener but I would have preferred hearing an original song. "Walking Dead" is a very strong song that would've been a better choice in my humble opinion. "Comfortably Numb" has a great keyboard track provided by Samantha Hogan. Being a fan of the famed movies, I've always loved the song "Godzilla". The guitars on this song sound great. I love the bass/vocal break in the middle. Good Stuff! "New Orleans Is Sinking" is a newer, "alt" rock song that many Buffalo club bands have added to their set lists'. Along with "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" Josh demonstrates his diversity with a couple of timely, newer rock songs. "Heartbreak Hotel" is a gutsy acoustic guitar/vocal solo performance. This song contains a nice electric guitar solo thrown in for good measure. Josh proves @ 17 yrs. old he can "do it all by himself". Great Job! The 2 closing songs on this CD are "Stairway To Heaven" and "Freebird". These 2 songs are considered classic rock anthems sure to please any Buffalo bar/club audience if played. Josh kicks ass on these 2 songs. Shouting out these 2 song titles at any given bar or club will not guarantee that they will be played, but Josh shows he can accomodate if need be.
Now onto the original songs, "Walking Dead" has a cool, slightly menacing tone and feel which I enjoy. The chorus is very catchy and vocally strong, if anybody out there makes a horror film called Walking Dead, this is the perfect title track. The feedback outro on the guitar solo is very cool, the keyboard track is very well played. "Walking Dead" is my favorite song on this CD. The piano intro for "The Jam" is quite impressive. The guitar and bass stroll along and meander around the keys track on this groovy track. The keys, guitar and bass each take turns catching the listeners ear on this song, in true "rock-jam" fashion. The crowd noises are a nice touch. The saxophone on "Minority Inventory" add a new jazzy sound to this predominantly rock CD. "You Know" is a simple, stripped down acoustic rock song with a cool guitar solo. Josh's vocals and lyrics grab your attention leading you through a love relationship on this cool song. "Falling Shadows" reminds me of a Pink Floyd song with it's saxophone and clean, chorused out guitar song, the song shifts in tempo and is basically a vehicle to feature the saxophone playing of David Lee Klimchuk.
