DAVID PACK
The Secret of Movin' On
Peak/Concord 2005
www.davidpack.com

What’s the 4-1-1?
The well regarded former frontman for the pop rock group Ambrosia releases his first album in more than 10 years of brand new material.

Genre
Adult Contemporary / soft rock / pop rock

The Good
The songs on this album are well constructed. They feature a mixture of styles ranging from adult contemporary, smooth jazz, even one song called “Tell Her Goodbye” that has a very blues driven feel to it. Steve Perry co-wrote and did backing vocals for “A Brand New Start.” The song is good. It reminds me of a rather slow Journey ballad, but I love Journey so that’s not a bad thing. The CD features 11 tracks, including remakes of two Ambrosia songs. Those two songs are “Biggest Part Of Me” and “You’re The Only Woman.”

I found it a bit humorous that in looking at the songs on the back of the CD I couldn’t readily identify which songs were the covers. It took only a few seconds of each tune for me to realize they were the remakes. Each track was good with “Biggest Part Of Me” seeming to step a bit more lively than the original version.
My favorite cut on the album was the title track. It’s an excellent song that features Ann Wilson from Heart providing guest vocals along with David Pack’s own vocal track and a solid piece of guitar playing. It’s easily the standout song on the disc.

The Bad
Maybe this is a minor complaint, maybe it isn’t, but I didn’t really find much on this album to call ROCK music. I think even calling it soft rock is stretching the term a bit.

The Verdict
The Secret of Moving On is being marketed to the Adult Contemporary, Smooth Jazz, and Classic Rock markets. The first two genres are fine, but simply by having a connection to the classic rock genre does not make a CD “classic rock.”
Occasionally, everyone needs a switch in what they are listening to.

David Pack has crafted a decent album with nary a misstep in the songs, but marketing the record towards the classic rock market when it clearly is nothing of the sort borders on fraud in my mind. I wouldn’t hesitate to listen to this album again. It’s a very good collection of adult contemporary music.

Did You Know?
David Pack’s work as a producer includes collaborations with Natalie Cole, Phil Collins, and Aretha Franklin. He was the producer of both inaugural events for President Bill Clinton. The CD booklet features original paintings from frequent Elton John songwriting partner Bernie Taupin.

Rating: out of 5

-- Jay Roberts