STEFAN MELLBERG – Pieces Of My Mind (SMR, 1978)

English vocals
International relevance: **

Late-to-the-party singer/songwriter Stefan Mellberg's only album, housed in a sleeve with a nice private pressing vibe. Unfortunately, the cover art writes cheques that the songs can't cash. While Mellberg is capable of a couple of decent tracks, i.e. ”Amelia – Where Is the Sun?” and ”Well, That's the Way” (the latter with a slight Leonard Cohen bent), most of ”Pieces of My Mind” is rather unengaging soft rock. On a couple of occassions, Mellberg tries to change the pace with a bit of jazz, reggae and good old rock'n'roll. It falls flat however, especially on album closer ”Dream Lover”, the particularly bad faux reggae track. The sound is quite good for a private release (SMR = Stefan Mellberg Records), and the otherwise unknown backing musicians are OK, but Mellberg's vocals have an frustrating, uninterested feel. Maybe he was struggling with the English language too much? Not that his efforts are very convincing... Mellberg's voice has a slight touch of Ola Håkansson's (of Ola & The Janglers) and I figure he had a musical taste firmly rooted in the 60's judging by the melodic traits.

It's certainly better than other more embarrasing examples of artistically bankrupt nobodies in the singer/songwriter vein, but 'not inept to the point of insulting' just isn't enough. It's not a very expensive album and it shouldn't be either. As a matter of fact, it's hardly even worth the $10 people usually ask for it.

Full album (Spotify)