George Kooymans - Jojo (Reissue) (1971/2006)

This is the solo debut of George Kooymans, a performer best known for his work as a guitarist and songwriter for Dutch rock legends Golden Earring. Surprisingly, the material on Jojo is totally lacking in the hard rock bombast and prog-rock tendencies that characterized Golden Earring's work around this time. Instead, it goes for a low-key but occasionally punchy rock sound that is somewhat reminiscent of Neil Young's early 1970s work. The focus of the songs is craftsmanship, with the band's efforts (plus occasional touches of orchestration) working towards placing the tuneful melody of each song in the spotlight. Good examples of this technique include "South Side Lady," which enhances its languid melody by slowly raising the tempo and layering in soulful background vocals, and "For Gail," whose dynamic arrangement pits drum-driven verses against a more relaxed chorus to highlight the song's catchy hooks. The problem with Jojo is that, while all its songs are well-crafted, none of them are of the insidiously catchy variety that would make the album appeal to anyone beyond Golden Earring fans. Also, the album tends toward a similar sound on most of its tracks instead of experimenting with the kinds of varied styles and sounds that might have won over non-fans. The end result is an album that has limited appeal beyond the Golden Earring fanbase, but remains a solid and tuneful batch of songs guaranteed to appeal to those fans.