Save Me

1	Beautiful Ways / Pat McGee 3:53
2	Must Have Been Love / Pat McGee 4:27
3	You And I / Pat McGee 3:59
4	Now / Pat McGee 3:43
5	Don't Give Up / Pat McGee 4:24
6	At It Again / Pat McGee 3:24
7	Annabel / Pat McGee 3:58
8	Never Around / Pat McGee 4:23
9	Wonderful / Pat McGee 3:11
10	Set Me Free / Pat McGee 3:53
11	Shady / Pat McGee 4:55

Barnes & Noble

This jam-happy quintet cut their teeth on the same Virginia hardwood as the Dave Matthews Band, but they've taken something of a different path on their way to the mainstream. McGee and company have generally spoken quietly and carried big spliffs, but Save Me finds the band making their most serious foray into electric music -- and pumping up the volume has done good things for their sound. On "Beautiful Ways," for instance, McGee takes one of his typically infectious melodies and, in essence, super-sizes it, lending a U2-styled tone. "Wonderful" follows a more circuitous route, using guitar washes to add hints of color rather than to outline the song, which gets its octane from McGee's fluid tenor and the subtle hand percussion of Chardy McEwan. Bassist John Small takes the reins on the summery "Annabel," a loping love paean that'd go nicely on Workingman's Dead. The "plugged-in" tenor of Save Me isn't so in-your-face that it'll come as a shock to longtime fans, but the new dimension should open up McGee's universe to plenty of new visitors. David McGee

All Music Guide

Working in the same FM realm as Train, Goo Goo Dolls, and Counting Crows, the Pat McGee Band utilize a capable blend of wistful romanticism and mid-tempo balladry to weave a web of sound that rarely offends. Their fifth release, Save Me, finds the Virginia natives expounding on their simplistic notions of love and love lost, resulting in a recording that breaks little new ground but achieves its overall goal of existing. Highlights include the upbeat rockers "Annabel" and "Set Me Free," and the catchy single "Beautiful Ways." Reverend Lee Power