Bill Madden comes across as a blend of a politically active David Gray with Bob Dylan during his 80s 'got religion' phase. He is well regarded as an independent singer-songwriter whose concerns for the environment, poverty and the fate of humanity in general form the inspirational core of his writing - sustaining him to this his forth album. To his credit he loudly expressed his opposition to the war in Iraq early on. Maybe he'll have to brush up on his trite pop songs now the Bush years are over, but he probably won't be holding his breath that the world will succumb to a wave of change. Meanwhile, in sound this album is no solo acoustic type outing - rather employing a full 'Springsteen rock' band. The album art is suitably gritty to match the subject matter - featuring the street people studies of French photographer Rodolphe Simeon.Madden sounds thoughtful, earnest and his lyrics are cohesive and full of poetic meaning - certainly several levels above the laboured efforts of the likes of Bono when turning to such issues. He has several tunes bordering on affecting. In one sense there are too many of them: there is a tendency for each to meld into the next in the memory. They have a uniformity of arrangement and especially an all enveloping muddy production that unfortunately becomes drab. Only the funky reggae rhythm of 'What The Man Does' stirs up the mix, but definitely not for the better. Madden summons up some vitriol on 'Prick Up Your Ears' without the band ever truly letting rip, whilst 'Humbled By Your Grace' is the most overtly pleading and has a chorus you might hear on one of the happy-clappy editions of Songs Of Praise (though he has embraced Buddhism not Christianity and it is as likely referring to an individual as a spiritual being). Very likeable despite that. Notable for its subject matter is 'Bosko and Admira': the story of the Serb and Muslim lovers gunned down on a Sarajevo bridge whilst trying to escape the conflict.Ultimately though I keep returning to the nagging thought that the phrases 'protest song' and 'recorded in Los Angeles' never really gel do they? A soundtrack for images of brats from 'The Hills' having a guilt attack tumbles through my mind. He has indeed had songs used for other MTV shows. In the very opener ‘Unfair', Madden pleads "Listen to your heart and follow the road less travelled", whilst appearing to precisely not do so by heading towards the mainstream middle ground with his sound. You need to reach people I suppose, but not so much on their own musically passive terms as they might not recognise you from the crowd. After listening to the whole album repeatedly, either I am suffering from compassion fatigue or he's just not hitting the right nerve, such that here Bill Madden leaves little permanent emotional trace for his admirable efforts - the Jack Johnson of protest singers.58%Bill Madden on MySpace