Review by William Moriaty

"Have you evah cun-sidahd a caree-ah in mewsik?"

Those were the words often uttered by an antebellum-era art teacher I used to have at T.R. Robinson High School in Tampa many many moons ago. Broken down into terms that even a Yankee can understand, teacher Bill King's question, "Have you considered a career in music?" was aimed at a select audience of students who either slacking, apathetic, disinterested, or worst of all, just plain not talented in art--in other words, maybe their time and his would be better spent if they moved on to some other endeavor with their life other than art.

Flash Forward to Today
Sentiments such as the late Bill King's still have relevance today as evidenced by actor James Marsters leap into the recording business through the group Ghost of the Robot which released its first CD, Mad Brilliant earlier this year. Marsters is a brilliant actor who portrays the peroxide-blonde Billy Idol-ish looking vampire Spike (formerly known as "William the Terrible") in the UPN television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Just as a heads-up to those who watch the show and may not be aware, Marsters is neither British nor peroxide-blonde in real life.

The Songs
"Mad Brilliant" is not a disaster or a train wreck, it just too often seems to pick up speed and stall before leaving the station. This is evidenced in the first song, "Liar" in which the first 1minute and 55 seconds starts out promising but begins to falter through a weak bridge. "Vehicles Shock Me" is a generally good tune, but again sounds flat near the song's end. "Dangerous" starts out sounding amateur, as if the band was auditioning for the first time -- in this particular instance, Marsters actually saves the day once his vocals are added to the mix. I don't know whether to like or hate the tune "David Letterman" -- as a lyrical piece I tend to enjoy it for it's quirkiness. The best song on the album is "Valerie" ("If I had a thousand pictures, and a marble gallery. Every single picture would be of Valerie. If I had a billion dollars, and a banker's salary I'd spend it all on flowers to give to Valerie." - oops, wrong "Valerie"! That's a track from the Schlock movie "Eegah") which has a sound and feel remotely similar to Gordon Lightfoot's ballad about the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. "Mad Brilliantly" is indeed brilliant in its first thirty seconds then ends somewhat maddeningly abrupt, while "Call 911" starts out well, but becomes uneven in the remainder of the track. "Blocking Brainwaves" is a good tune with an enjoyable beginning with the band being announced for a stage introduction at the Yellow County VFW Hall (followed by boos and cat calls from the audience) and a wonderfully self-effacing ending with the sound of crickets. "German, Jewish" is also a good tune.

"Ghost of the Robot" has potential, but its first offering sounds a little too sloppy and disjointed. Although I admire the almost retro-80's New Wave dress of the band members, a little more effort or follow-through is needed here or else the following may have to be asked of Mister Marsters:

"Have you evah cun-sidahd a caree-ah in ack-ting?"