Marcus Liuzzi – This Selection Is Currently Unavailable (Album Review)

In today’s review, we welcome back the artist Marcus Liuzzi who has cemented his name in the universe of Music Review World with his previous single, ‘Six Pack of Bourbon’. The article and background information can be accessed here, giving you context regarding his artistry and his origin story, which is actually quite interesting and logically connects with the type of music that he makes. Marcus Liuzzi is a singer, songwriter and musician living outside of Boston, Massachusetts, with his niche being the fact that he’s a multi-instrumentalist that plays guitar, bass, piano/keyboards, and acoustic and electronic drums. Adding on to his self-proficiency, he also engineers and mixes his recordings at his home studio.

This has definitely cultivated itself into a career in music and independent releases. In this instance, he returns with his second album titled ‘This Selection Is Currently Unavailable’. He admits, that playing and recording in a self-imposed social bubble get can lonely at times. To curb these feelings, he occasionally invites his guitar buddies into his studio to lay down a guitar solo or two. Some of this at work will be apparent in the track ‘Six Pack of Bourbon’ with Francis Lusardi’s slide guitar solo, and Dave Croce’s solos on ‘Right Whatever’s Wrong’, ‘2 Night Stand’, ‘Born One’ and ‘I Try Not To Miss Her’.

All of the songs on the album are written by Marcus except ‘I Try Not to Miss Her’, which evidently shares writing credits with Croce himself.

Marcus also describes his genre as definitely pop/rock, but he also has the desire to explore beyond these constraints by writing country-flavoured tunes every now and then. With this current release, he explores themes such as lost love, the environment, hope, betrayal, loneliness and finding love- with ‘Whenever I Think of You’ dedicated to his wife and ‘Born One’ following the birth of his son.

The album is definitely very folksy and wholesome in its entirety, from ‘Right Whatever’s Wrong’ to ‘I Try Not To Miss Her’. It has the undertones of 70s folk-rock albums like Hunky Dory by David Bowie, especially with the way the sounds are mastered within this release. In another aspect, it does have more of a mid to late 70s feel (besides the early 70s references) from the style of synthesizers used within this release.

I’d say another interesting thing is that the percussive chops within the album and the rock-based songs also bear characteristics of songs from the 90s to a degree. It does contain the three eras I have mentioned very well quite simultaneously. However, it’s hard to say that people who are fans of music from the era would necessarily put this work on the same level, simply because of the mastering. It feels like as if in some instances, the vocals are not fully layered well with the instrumental, giving a slight amateurish feel with too much echo.

From a compositional aspect, the album is frankly not too shabby and does contain a healthy appetite for compositional variation and motivic variation. The songs are not too repetitive and all contain differing dynamics that fit the relative theme ascribed to each track. The addition of various solos- from guitars to MIDI trumpets show an intent to ‘add’ on to the track and give it more dynamics.

I think someone who does have a keen interest in music of that characterizes these particular eras would find a lot of comfort and solitude within the release, as it just ‘gets it’ while being authentic. Yes, there are mastering issues that wouldn’t necessarily make it sound like a modern album, but I think if you’re able to put yourself in the mind of the artist and to simply put, recreate its vibe in your head as you’re listening to it, it will eventually make a lot of sense.

There’s a lot of upbeat tracks within this release that transition into a ballad, and even some that remind me of The Archies. Perhaps, Marcus Liuzzi could work a little bit on his vocals besides the mastering aspect, as it does unfortunately give off an amateur vibe as well. His voice has a lot of potential, with its musky feel and clean delivery, but in songs like ‘Taking My Shot at Love’, the harmonizing aspect does not really sound that great. Another thing this release could benefit from is sound selection, and getting away from instrumentation that doesn’t sound organic enough. Ironically, the keys and the guitar segments sound really good in this release, it’s just some of the synths and the drumming samples (in some instances, it sounds too generic.)

As a personal project though, I think this album is pretty decent and can be shared with Marcus Liuzzi’s loved ones and associates. The songwriting is really intentional and possibly biographical, making it heartwarming and not cold at all. Despite the pitfalls of this album, I can feel the warmth and purity emanating from each verse, and that makes it wholesome.

SCORE / Mediocre to Good – ‘This Selection Is Currently Unavailable’ marks as an addition to Marcus Liuzzi’s world of releases, and delivers with a wholesome feel that pays homage to music influences of the past. It’s great for a personal project, and I don’t mean this with any snark, it is a highly personalised project that requires a specific niche audience to truly appreciate beyond face value.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

Check Marcus out on his Official Website!