After hearing ‘Waiting To Be Seen Part 2,’ it makes the best sense to explore the music of Part 1, but these two albums which complete one another, can be played in any playlist fashion without hurting the overall concept of the two albums, and songs like “Already Broke” and others from Part 1 come highly recommended. The songs stand up on their own, and every piece of the story has its own collective power as individual pieces of content, as I noticed Chris Bullinger has a significant number of followers on Spotify and a lot of views on YouTube.
Part 2 kicks off with “Crawlin’ My Way Back To You” as the lyrics follow up the “I’m Not Coming Back Home” mood from Part 1, to give an example of how these songs tell stories that play out conceptually as they go, keeping to the script but also randomly relating throughout. If you like cunning lyrics and folksy music, this whole two part set is for you, as this is a uniquely good songwriter with an old soul approach, not surprisingly recorded in Nashville with a story all about a bomb shelter which plays out so well it’s contagious.
The experiences Chris Bullinger sings about make for some interesting songs for sure, with an assortment to choose from across his whole catalog these are only the latest to drop from. I couldn’t me more entertained by these songs. “Meet You Down The Line” which is track 2, but actually track 14 in the story, keeps things loose and gritty with a nice long fade way leading into the very Dylanesque “Salvation As I Know It” with even more inflections of Bob Dylan. But Chris Bullinger proves he can hold his own standard to which it might even behoove the legend to note.
“Better Half,” “Remember Me” and “Through The Dark” keep things going in the same tradition, with infectious stories that play like little chapters of a book loosely written about post nuclear life, with all the imaginable comedies and tragedies. And if you look a step farther into the artist Chris Bullinger to see the person, you’ll find other fascinations to make it even more interesting and credible, ut as I scale the tracks, “Shine” is where the Waiting To Be Seen Part 2 climax happens, with a remarkably compelling track which can be viewed in a lyric video gaining some traction.
“Lazy Green Dream” plays like a fun romp, as Part 2 continues with more to mention by way of “To Glow,” “Where We Were” being significantly good, and the closing track “Offerin’ Acceptance” particularly enjoyable too. In fact, I like all these songs, they weigh out as they play out and the whole story is told so well it’s hard to find a flaw in any of it. The entire catalog of Chris Bullinger is worth seeking out, once you hear this killer two part album with 23 songs in total, and part 2 containing 11 of them.
Chadwick Easton