My Two Cents: Phillip LaRue - Let the Road Pave Itself

Having been a fan of the sibling harmonies that the now-defunct LaRue brought us in '00, '01 and '02, I was looking forward to hearing the dude of the duo, Phillip LaRue, go solo. Sadly, I am disappointed with the vocal performance on his debut, Let the Road Pave Itself. Phil's vocal chops have been chopped down to size since his earlier records. No longer do we hear soaring tenor runs a la Kevin Max or Jeff Buckley. Instead, his voice falls flat (though not literally) the majority of the time. There are a couple of tracks -- "All I Want" and "Sleeping Beauty" -- that are reminiscent of the passionate performance I came to expect from Phillip in the past. Whether his voice is just a little rusty or he intentionally purposed to shed his "pretty boy vocal" in favor of a more earthly singer-songwriter presence, I don't know. It will be interesting to see how his voice evolves in the years to come as he "lets the road pave itself."