Kevin Gullickson is a multi instrumentalist from Rochester, Minnesota, hence his playing of all the instruments on 'This Is Our Time', performing under the monikor of Radio Drive for this, his fourth release flying the Radio Drive musical banner.

An electronic '80s slant brings the opus to life on 'Rising', a decent offering although the choral robotic arrangement does bring the tune down a musical peg or two at points, though overall the track is well crafted and performed. The songwriting prowess of Mr Gullickson clicks up a gear on 'Borders', a tune that has similarities at times to the renowned US singer/songwriter Matthew Sweet, and that 1980s electro vibe crops back into the equation on title track 'This Is Our Time', but although the songs are well written and greatly performed, my opinion would be for the inclusion of a separate vocalist to lift this collection of songs up to the next level but, having uttered those slightly damning words, the vocals are still acceptable on tracks like 'Never' and 'Light', but if the whole emphasis of this project is to achieve Radio Drive then the tracks need better commercial hooks and a brighter vocal delivery, more so than the mono drone vocals currently carrying the opus.

This is ever so evident on 'Money, You Don't Own Me', albeit again perfectly structured and 'New Direction' (a piece very much inspired by John Lennon, as reflected by Gullickson) - obviously not a Lennon inspiration on the songwriting side so the inspiration must be from elsewhere outside of music.

As the album progresses the glumness of the music is becoming increasingly overwrought and depressing and maybe a little bit more oomph could go into a track with the title of 'Life Is For Living'. With a more uplifting, possibly soulful, singer the acoustic track 'I Believe In You' could probably florish musically instead of falling into musical obscurity.

The album closes with 'Two Simple Words', a track with a decent arrangement - but the monotone vocals...again?! - and final song 'Hardwired', which rips it up with the guitar giving it some, but of course no commercial hooks in sight.

Radio Drive...This is definitely not your time......

www.radio-drive.com