Brooker sings MacDonald / Sinfield

Not even Gary can redeem 'Driver's Eyes'

Greg Smith reports
As one of my presents to myself for Christmas I bought Ian McDonald's new CD, Driver's Eyes. I've liked much of his work over the years eg King Crimson, McDonald and Giles and most recently Steve Hackett's Tokyo Tapes. I thought the CD was worth a risk particularly as Steve Hackett and John Wetton were guests.

Well you can be wrong. The CD is mediocre mainly weighed down by poor material and some uninspired playing. And you could blink and miss Wetton and Hackett's contributions.

However there was one pleasant surprise. The Commander is the lead vocalist on the last track on the CD, Let There Be Light, a Ian McDonald / Pete Sinfield collaboration. Unfortunately the song is quite forgettable. And whilst Gary does his best, even his voice can't rescue it.

So much as I would like to say otherwise this CD is really only for the very avid completists of GB, JW or SH material. For the remainder - give it a miss - or look for it in the cheap bin in the post-Christmas sales.