Man Of Many Faces (J Christie)

Reviewed as singles

Picture Painter (J Christie)

As has been mentioned before, Jeff doesn't narrow his songwriting subjects down to simply romance themes — his work covers a wide breadth of topics, whether it be men of many faces, life behind prison walls, outlaw bandits, or trains and locomotives. Picture Painter is a clever song about asking an artist to look deeper and paint a picture of the singer's heart and soul. It's a transition between Christie's commercial music and a clear move into a heavier sound, given impetus by Paul's frantic drumming, Jeff's thudding bass, and Vic's hard-edged guitar playing. This song was considered for release as a single, with a promotional video made of it — but for one reason or another, it was only issued in Asia as a double-A-side product: with Picture Painter on one side and Peace Lovin' Man on the other.

Martian King (J Christie)

Flying saucer sound effects quickly amplify into a 5 minute-plus epic about a man visiting Mars, again demonstrating Jeff's ability to think laterally and write about all sorts of subjects. The song is an extension of the progress made on Picture Painter, stretching out a commercial melody into a heavyweight magnum opus. Again, each member contributes well: Vic with some inventive guitar licks, Paul with forceful drumming, and Jeff with a rocking bass riff. This is clearly one of the best tracks on the album.

For All Mankind (J Christie)

But just as the listener is starting to recover from the brilliance of the previous song, Christie follow it up with the outstanding item on the album, the title track. This was Jeff's strongest political song, and what a message it delivers. A keyboard combination of piano and harmonium, with a lovely Vic Elmes guitar strain in the background, help enhance this lovely ballad's call for the need for peace for all mankind. The song closes with more of Vic's guitar work, and nice drumming by Paul.

Peace Lovin' Man (J Christie)

Vic and Paul combine to kick off this song with a catchy mix of guitar and drums. It carries on the message from the previous track, with Jeff proclaiming he's a peace lovin' man. This song returns to the roots of the commercial Christie formula, but still possesses some of the hard thrust shown in Picture Painter.

My Baby's Gone (J Christie)

This is one of three songs on the album where the boys delve deep into a heavy, bluesy, hard rock sound. The members clearly enjoy themselves on this medium-paced number, as each member gets to show off his skills. Jeff plays a nice bass riff, Vic twangs his guitar every which way and Paul demonstrates his ample percussion talents with his imaginative drumming. The song takes some getting used to, but all in all, it's a solid effort considering only three people play on it.

Country B Sam (V Elmes)

Reviewed as a single

I Believe In You (J Christie)

The song starts off slowly and then races into frantic hard rock. This effort hooks you quicker than the other heavy offering, My Baby's Gone. Using the basic melody line here, it could have been shortened into another of Christie's commercial songs. Instead, the boys extend it beyond 4 minutes with plenty of nice instrumental variations. As Jeff explains, this was actually a song about US president Nixon.

If Only (J Christie)

As with the first album, a lilting ballad closes this set. It starts off with a nice acoustic arrangement, builds up with harmonium accompaniment, before gentle guitar and percussion chime in. This love song evokes images of the singer sitting by himself with guitar in hand, crooning out the melody to his lover. Very much a solo effort by Jeff, who played all instruments.

*I'm Alive (J Christie)

The CD version of this song sounds different to the single. According to Jeff, the producer of the CD left out the cello and strng arrangements. The result is a nice combination of acoustic guitar and gentle percussion.