Big Apple Hum

This release from Tommy Wiggins starts off promising, but quickly falls into a trap of song after song that pretty much sounds like the one before. After the smooth initial track, "There I Go Again," the album shifts to the best and longest song, "20 Years After the First Fall." It is an excellent mix on Wiggins' unique voice and percussion instruments. It also best exemplifies his talent as a songwriter, where at one point in the song he sings, "We didn't have any money/But it didn't much matter to me/Living out a dream by a cool mountain stream." Although there are only ten tracks, the album begins to get very repetitious after the second song. Wiggins fails to experiment much, following a strict pattern. Perhaps the only thing that does save the middle of the album is his voice, which is excellent throughout. But regardless, this portion does begin to drag and becomes too much of the same. Things start to pick up once again with the eighth track, "Take Some Time." Although it is just under two minutes in length, it is a substantial track because it ventures to an area musically that he didn't touch until then. He experiments with different levels of his voice and adds some interesting instruments to make it an all-around excellent song.

After another solid and different song, "Too Many Broken Mirrors," the album ends on a very strong note with "Gonna Get a Hand Gun." This too is another prime example of his lyrical ability. As the song opens, he sings, "Gonna get a hand gun/ Everybody got one/Don't want to meet your Maker when you're all alone." To compliment his skill as a songwriter, Wiggins provides some of the motivations for his songs in the liner notes, a very unique and interesting addition to an album that overall mixes his wonderful voice with complimentary-sounding instruments. The only thing keeping from making this effort excellent is the dragging feeling of the middle portion of the album, which is something that could have been avoided by rearranging the order of some of the tracks.