Madmen & Lovers

Album Review

The music world is full of talented artists who put their music on the back-burner because of jobs and/or family. A perfect example is Philadelphia native Barbara McDonald, who devoted much of her adult life to raising her two sons but eventually got around to recording her debut album, Madmen & Lovers. Not perfect, but generally enjoyable and occasionally even excellent, this collection shows McDonald to be an appealing, contemplative singer/songwriter along the lines of Sarah McLachlan and Shawn Colvin (or if you want to go further back, you can note the parallels between McDonald's songs and the reflections of Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell). At her worst, McDonald is at least decent, but on her best songs (which include the haunting "Knight of Dreams," the slightly R&B-ish "I Never Lived This Day Before" and the ominous "Black Heart") she can be compelling. Another high point of this collection of pop-rock, adult contemporary and pop-folk is "Electronic Karma," a mysterious number that incorporates touches of Indian raga. One of the disc's most notable shortcomings lies in the production — quite often, McDonald and John Perkins (who she co-produced and co-wrote the album with) tend to overproduce and use too many synthesizers, sequencers, drum machines, etc. when their songs would have been better served by more of a band sound. This isn't to say that they should have ignored technology — only that they should have used it more sparingly. But Madmen & Lovers has more plusses than minuses, and the album indicated that McDonald was someone who deserved some exposure.