This remarkable song cycle, a discrete journey along the curl of emotion and the small fractions of life, is a collective, circular anthem for all seasons, a summer breaks into fall, then winter, then spring and back to summer record for just us folks, those lost and waiting to be found and those found looking to get lost in ourselves, in our surroundings, in our time.

Stroking his brush over a wide canvas, mixing pleasing, collaborative colors and ideas sprouting more ideas still, Scott McGinley has fashioned a musical quilt of eleven songs that bleed into and cross paths with each other so that they work as well on their own as they do in tandem. I like to think of this album as an eleven-song movement meant to be heard from start to finish; it is in this form that Epiphany wields the most power. I think McGinley would agree, although he would probably add that it's okay to cherry pick, too; the wonderful, straight-ahead pop song, "Let Me Be the One," and the go-go-and-punk-meet-Southern-California pop, beat-crazy "Are You a Boy or a Girl" are perhaps the ripest fruits on hand for such single-serving simplicity.

But for those ears looking to be challenged by these proceedings, starting at the beginning, curled up on the sofa or sitting on a comfortable chair at rapt attention, is the best, and most rewarding, course to maneuver. And there, at the beginning, as the rock tones of "All I Know" suddenly morph into a distillation of Beach Boys harmonies, accented by horns, orchestration, and the greatest, most expressive instrument of all, sleigh bells, your journey truly begins, ending with a short, sharp, gospel-tinged shock of epiphany.

The sweetly-sung reflection of lessons learned from investing in the faith that sees inspiration fold into musical creation, "Here Comes the Music," peppered with lively banjo accents and typically rich harmonies (a Pop is Art trademark), leads into a complex and ambitious seven-song suite whose elements weave in and out of and around each other as they slide by ghosts of Beach Boys, Supertramps, Beatles, and Pink Floyd on the way to a realization of the true meaning of life both in the here and now and on the other side.

On this side, the richness of the arrangements and the integration of such profound ideas and ideals present throughout this Epiphany are testament to McGinley's skill as both composer and performer. He seems to just know how much instrumentation to apply here and what to leave out there, which flourish to let flower and which turn of phrase to abandon, all for the good of the whole. He just seems to know.

And now you know. You know the path to pursue as you let the sounds of this Epiphany melt around you, your hopes, your dreams, and, yes, your nightmares in tow. It's all a part of the process, says McGinley in these wonderful songs, and it's time you learned how to pass through it. It is how it is, perched on the curl of emotion, looking for answers, in the summer, in the fall, in the winter and in the spring, in our time.

It is, indeed, an epiphany worth savoring.

Alan Haber
August 2005
www.buhdge.com

TRACKS:

1. All I Know Listen

3. Are You A Boy Or A Girl? Listen

4. Here Comes the Music Listen

5. Misled Listen

6. Higher Listen

7. Father Father Listen

8. The Other Side (a requiem for Phebe) Listen

9. Father Father (reprise)/Wake Up! Listen

11. Smile! Listen