By now I don’t even remember how long the wait was for Pine/Cross Dover from the time it was announced to its release, but the sixth album from Masters of Reality — finally out in Europe through Brownhouse/Mascot and available Stateside as an import — was worth it. I’ve raved before about the genius of main songwriter Chris Goss, and with the two part Pine/Cross Dover, his increasingly quirky style was fully at play. The outcome was a group of memorable, rich songs whose quality showed itself over time.

I included “Testify to Love” in the end of year podcast, but really that could just as easily have been “Always,” “Up in It” or any number of other tracks from the record. Goss‘ prowess as a pop constructionist and performer made each of these songs an experiment in personality, and the reason Pine/Cross Dover worked so well was that each of the personalities flowed into the next. I know they’re not the highest profile band in the world, and I’m not sure if in this long run this will overthrow 2001’s Deep in the Hole‘s sentimental appeal, but for 2009, Pine/Cross Dover was absolutely one of the best, and more or less a constant in my player.

Sometimes you’re just so happy an album has come out that it informs the way you hear the songs. There was probably some of that at work, but it doesn’t matter. For the cult following Masters of Reality have built over the two-plus decades the band has been together, Pine/Cross Dover is an exciting glimpse at where the band and Goss are today. The way I see it, this is a hard one to beat.

Tags: Masters of Reality, Top 10 of 2009

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.