It's very tough to review a rock album on a Prog site, but when Mack Maloney sent me his debut album I couldn't resist.
Besides being a best-selling science fiction and adventure writer, Mack Maloney is an excellent keyboardist whose disc- Sky Club, released on Voiceprint Records is an album of original and cover songs, featuring Mack on keyboards along with Mark Poulin on guitars, bass, percussion and vocals, Rich Kennedy on guitars and effects, and guests- Amadee Castenell on sax, and Chris Billias on piano.
The album is a solid concept album that tells the story of a space traveler stranded on a deserted planet with only the music on his iPod to keep him company. Maloney has been writing military adventure and science fiction books for almost 20 years, which includes the Wingman, Starhawk series and War Heaven. He has sold 4.5 million books in his fiction writing career.
Back to the album's concept; it showcases a space traveler marooned on a planet after his spacecraft had crashed. Crew dead, completely alone, except for an iPod and memories of his wife and home planet, the music focuses on the plight of the astronaut.
The twelve original and cover-songs are all well-made and though I will not go through all of the tracks, highlights include the first tune- `Don't let go to your Coat.' a rockin' opener with solid vocals and a tasty ending and the rockin' driving second track- `Flood.'
The fourth song is a gorgeous cover of Journey's "Send Her My Love." The Multi-talented Mark Poulin's vocals are killer with some sexy sax by Amadee Castenell. Excellent piece!
Brian Kelleher's `Star Surfing 1962' shows the eclectic nature of the album, with a definite 60's feel.
One of the stand-out tracks is a cover of Mike + The Mechanics' `Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)'. As one of my favorite poppy songs from way back then, the song stands out as a beautiful homage and cover to a wonderful song.
My favorite composition on this excellent album is easily- Flight (track #11). Initially, I thought it might be a Renaissance cover , but luckily I was wrong. This instrumental is top- notch, and showcases the band's musicianship. This is the style in which I would love to see Mack expand on he has the ability to go full-course Prog; but he also has the Pop and rockin' chops to fuse any musical style or styles.
One of things I admire about Mr. Maloney is his unselfish nature on Sky Club. This is an album that cries for synths. Maloney's restraint in bringing the guitar and sax forward in the compositions and mixes seems almost like a shooter concentrating on rebounding. Regardless, Maloney, Kennedy, Poulin, and guests have created an all-around excellent debut, and though the album only touches on a Prog element here or there, the CD is a mixture of classic rock, energetic, poetic, soulful sounds and was simply a wonderful musical experience to take in. Yes, the narrative in terms of song structure could have flowed better, but you will get this when dealing with the use of covers. It would be cool to see Mr. Maloney's follow-up album to be all original pieces, and expand into more time changes and dynamics. Mack has an epic Prog masterpiece in him.
Cover art-wise, it is nice to see a booklet with multiple artworks enclosed. The choice of cover art is weird, as it is one of the weakest pieces. Though some works are better than others, there are some definite gems in the booklet, and I see at least 6 images that are much stronger and could have made much better cover art.
If you are a fan of Prog only- give this a shot, but be forewarned, this is a loose conceptual rock album with only a minute pinch of Progressive tendencies.
As a rock album, this should be a must buy, especially if you enjoy Mack Maloney's books.
9.1/10
--L. Gaskins--
Mack Maloney 
