Never Enders (Shanachie, 2016)
Lonestar
Reviewed by Jeff Lincoln
McDonald has been back in the fold for about five years now, and this is their second effort as a reformed unit. The title track opener is the main highlight - it clearly aims to please as a pop/rock/country candy treat. You can sing along the first time you hear it and forget it an hour later. "I Know It Was You" taps into some of the old magic of a swooning power ballad, but the lyrics feel like retreaded material. There's the same vibe with "I've Been Wrong Before" - Brad Paisley took the same subject and did it infinitely better ("Then"). Something feels forced in the mostly filler between the first and last song (the fun glam-rock "Boomerang").
One of the things you want with a band that hits the 20-year mark is a sense of whether they're changing with the times or a nostalgia act plagiarizing themselves. To that end, "I Want a Love" helps - it has some raucous honky tonk piano and a cute contemporary story about an online dating profile. If there's a path forward for the band, that song might serve as a clue. McDonald's voice remains sharp, and the players don't sound like they're tiring. But whatever comes next, history says it won't come easy.
CDs by Lonestar






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