THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 23, 1994 TAG: 9406220068
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUE SMALLWOOD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940623 LENGTH: Medium
For now, the four-man band, named after a Monty Python skit, is riding high with ``Dulcinea,'' their latest LP of pretty melodic rock destined for chart action. The group's last previous album, 1991's ``Fear,'' home of hit singles ``All I Want'' and ``Walk On The Ocean,'' is certified platinum.
{REST} ``We certainly didn't put any pressure on ourselves to make another `Fear,' '' Dinning said of ``Dulcinea.'' ``All we wanted to do was improve on what we had started with `Fear.' We felt that we had put a little too much effort into the production of `Fear' and kind of lost some of the live quality of the band.''
Shunning overdubs and complex studio techniques, the band ``set up in one room where we could all see each other and most of the album was just recorded playing live, all together,'' Dinning explained.
Lyrically, the songs deal with atypical subjects (at least, atypical for pop music), written from unusual viewpoints: The current single ``Fall Down'' describes someone who fails to intervene in a friend's troubled life; the haunting ``Begin'' is a child's perspective of her father's death; album-closer ``Reincarnation Song'' takes on the life-after-death debate.
``We all tend to be inspired by music that's a little bit deeper, and as a consequence of that a little bit darker and more thought-provoking,'' Dinning said. ``Everybody listens to music in different ways. Some people just put on a record and dance, other people put on a record and get keyed into every lyric and want to be moved and made to think.''
The band shows its sense of humor, though, with playful tunes like the loping ``Nanci,'' ``an imaginary conversation over the comparative merits of Nanci Griffith versus Loretta Lynn in country music,'' Dinning explained. ``That's just totally a fun one.''
``Dulcinea'' is the fourth Toad the Wet Sprocket LP. Dinning credits much of the group's current success to ceaseless touring behind their first two albums, which received virtually no airplay.
``We got a pretty good collection of fans who didn't just hear songs on the radio and then show up to the club. The only reason people would be somewhere we were playing was because they had the records. We weren't really looking for success on the radio. It just kind of happened.'' by CNB