Songs: Sailing Away To The West, Higher Ground, Gabrielle, Sugar Trade, Oh Mary Don't You Weep, How Will I Ever Be Simple Again, Sirey (Sierra) Peaks, I Can See Your Aura, Teach My Heart To Believe, Hearts Aren't Made Of Stone, Turtle Dove, Fiddler's Green, Rock The Rose, Them Beautiful Bottles

Personnel: Marley's Ghost is Dan Wheetman, Mike Phelan, Jon Wilcox, and Ed Littlefield, Jr., all playing multiple instruments

There's a lot one can say about the band Marley's Ghost. But one thing you can't say about them is that everything they sing sounds the same. If you're planning on putting on some all-bluegrass, all-folk, or all-anything festival, you probably won't want these guys there. They do so many different styles so well that they've developed what can only be called "The Ghost Sound." Fans of the band (Ghost Boosters??) know that this fab four of the folk/ blues/ bluegrass/ old-time/ Cajun/ country/ gospel/ a cappella sound usually include a little bit of everything in their concerts and recordings, and you won't be disappointed with their fifth CD titled Four Spacious Guys.

One of the wonders of Marley's Ghost-- besides their broad range of styles and excellent harmonies-- is their instrumentation. Among the four of them there are 11 different instruments, with the members switching off song to song. As if this wasn't enough, they're also abetted here by erstwhile Hot Rize bassist Nick Forster (who also produced Spacious) and the renowned Irish band The Boys of the Lough. With friends like this around you're about to embark on a magical musical tour, and it is quite a ride.

The first song, Sailing Away To The West, is an uptempo original song written and sung by Dan Wheetman-- who wrote three other songs on this CD--that has a nice old-timey feel to it, and this sets the tone for the rest of this recording. Higher Ground is a haunting song written by special guest Forster, and the lead singing is shared by the band. Gabrielle is a Cajun number of Wheetman's, followed by another of his, the minor mode Sugar Trade. Oh Mary Don't You Weep is a gospel tune that showcases the band's a cappella capacity, as does the Irish-flavored Fiddler's Green, and the satirical I Can See Your Aura which is the perfect New Age song for the 90s. The dark side (is there any other?) of songwriter Richard Thompson is explored in How Will I Ever Be Simple Again. Wheetman's Teach My Heart To Believe is another upbeat old-timey song as is Them Beautiful Bottles and Sirey (Sierra) Peaks. Mike Phelan's love song, Hearts Aren't Made Of Stone, features pedal and lap steel guitars that create a classic country flavor, and Turtle Dove is another gospel-like song with just voices and a guitar. And Rock The Rose is an instrumental medley of hot traditional twin-fiddle tunes.

There's lots more that can be said about Marley's Ghost, but one thing is for sure-- they are hardly a quartet of specious dudes. Instead of talking about them, give them a listen. But watch out folks--with five CDs in the 10 years of their existence as a band, that means they're due for another one in two years. Their next effort may be a rap/ barbershop/ heavymetal/ hiphop/ grunge/ technograss effort. You just never know what these Four Spacious Guys known as Marley's Ghost will do next. .