Guy Michetti All In My Mind

Guy Michetti joins the legion of acoustic-styled singer/songwriter types from the United States. Ever since the massive success of John Mayer, there seems to be overflow of artists hanging around the same pub. Thankfully, Michetti is quite removed from Mayer or his clones. In fact, "All In My Mind" seems to originate from an altogether different era, sometime between the mid-to-late '70s, heavily informed by Bruce Springsteen and even John Cougar Mellencamp. Despite the ode to the East Coast, "A New York City Life," this is classic heartland American rock & roll, and Michetti has the vocal punch and ringing guitars to make it sound contemporary.

The melodies are strong, and there's one slice of infectious pop after another like "She's My Only One" and "I Believe in Make Believe." I normally avoid songs named after girls because they're usually cliched; however, "Dianne" is downright pretty. In fact, there's nothing ugly at all on this record, pretty shocking for anything released in 2004.