Sailover
In the folk-rocking 1960s, PF Sloan established himself as the poor man's Bob Dylan, jumping on the protest bandwagon and writing the smash "Eve of Destruction" for Barry McGuire. That anthem sounds every bit as pertinent four decades later, as it highlights this comeback album with Sloan trading verses with Frank Black and Buddy Miller. The rest ofSailovershows why Sloan never attracted much attention as a recording artist: His voice lacks range and depth, and much of his material suffers from a clunky wordiness and ponderousness. The guest artists enlisted by Sloan and producer Jon Tiven are as motley as one of Ringo's All-Starr Bands, with Lucinda Williams sharing vocals on "Sins of a Family," the Rascals' Felix Cavaliere providing organ and chorus vocals on "Where Were You When I Needed You," and Tom Petersson (Cheap Trick) and Garry Tallent (Springsteen's E-Streeters) among the bassists. "PK and the Evil Dr. Z" shows that Sloan's still capable of a pretty fair Dylan imitation, though "Halloween Mary" sounds like a pallid reflection of "Like a Rolling Stone." Perhaps a tribute album might have served Sloan better, for the older songs he wrote ("Secret Agent Man" for Johnny Rivers, "You Baby" for the Turtles) are better than any of the newer ones here.--Don McLeese