Review - Tom Hampton's Our Mutual Angels

In the late 1990s, I remember hearing about a singer/songwriter from the Philadephia area named Tom Hampton. He just came out with his own independent release called Our Mutual Angels. To this day, it remains one of my favorite "undiscovered" albums. Hampton blends influences of Dan Fogelberg, James Taylor, The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Poco, Garth Brooks, and others into a finely wrought album of country-influenced original tunes.

"Brand New Distance" kicks off the album. It is a nice uptempo pop-country tune about a relationship and how to gauge each other in the context of that relationship. It also contains one of my favorite lines in a song "but the promise of love still lingers, if we invest what it demands". Great tune, and a nice way to kick off what promises to be an enjoyable listening experience.

"Savannah Rain" is next and is personally one of my favorite tunes on the album. The mood and tone is darker here; the song evokes the feel of a rainy day in a southern town. The song seems to be about the breakup of a relationship, and all the miscommunication that can come down in such a situation. The song has a Jackson Browne-meets-Bob Seger kind of feel.

Hampton slows the pace down for "Sorrow". Relationships are again a familiar theme here. Regret and past issues seem to be front-and-center here "we won't find no guarantees" "I can see through your sorrow, I can walk straight through your soul".

"Strange Way" has more of a straight country feel almost folk-ish in style. The tune's thrust is the "strange way" that love has of doing things in different situations. Tom's sense of place, and his ability to match stories with the physical sounds of words (ala Fogelberg) is on display here as well.

"Back Again" is a more subdued tune replete with fingerstyle guitar ala JT or Fogelberg. The tune is about a relationship that is far enough "down the road" that the two people are starting to question and yearn for how things were at the start.

"Chasing After Paradise" is in the vein of the Eagles or Poco; a mid-tempo country rock tune. "It's strange to think we've come this far, without gettin' anywhere". It's almost a similar theme from "Back Again", about a relationship that is far enough down the road that other issues get involved.

"Guarantee" mines a similar territory to the middle tunes of the album.

"Raven" has a definite Poco or Pure Prairie League-type of a feel. The piece talks about friendship and love where, the raven is the metaphor (occurring on the choruses).

"Made of Stone" is the only out-and-out rock tune on the album. It reminds me of Dan Fogelberg's "Phoenix" or something in the style of the Eagles "Desperado"-era material. The song talks about the turns relationships can take as miscommunication becomes an issue: broken promises, hurt, past issues, etc.

"Ghost Along The Road" is my favorite tune on the album. In my opinion it has the finest melody and most poignant lyrics. The song is about love lost and missed opportunities. The image of love lost as a "Ghost Along The Road" is a very vivid image. Here is a fine moment; worth revisiting now and again.

"Is It Enough?" speaks about a relationship where the woman is torn between and old love and a new flame. "In the eye of the hurricane, in the calm before the storm...is that enough to keep you warm?" Very much in the style of James Taylor.

"Afterthought" closes the album with an echo riff on guitar. Talks again about regret and re-thinking in the midst of relationships. A subdued, poignant ending to the work.

If you haven't heard of Tom Hampton yet, and chances are if you're reading this you haven't, then you owe it to yourself to find this album. After several years of being out of print, it is now available again. If you like singer-songwriter lyrics with intelligent and emotive insight, with a splash of country flavor, then you will surely like Tom Hampton's Our Mutual Angels.