Taylor Sorensen made his debut under the alias of simply Taylor last Fall with the unimpressive The Fill EP. Taylor's sound is admittedly greatly influenced by U2 with a stress on the 80's era. While he tends to wander into similar territory as the artists that inspired him, his music rarely amounts to anything worthy of being classified in such a category. With his full-length debut The Overflow, Taylor improves significantly on a few songs while continuing to offer several tracks that never really get off the ground. Nearly every track from The Fill is included here as well, including a new studio version of "Sanctuary." So if you missed the EP, you miss very little when listening to Overflow.

"Love Somebody Else," like Fill, opens this record with an upbeat and elated venture before breaking into a somewhat intrusive chorus. Taylor's mumbling style of enunciating his lyrics is no doubt an acquired taste. If you've heard mainstream pop radio, it's possible you may think you've already heard Taylor. His vocals don't stray too far from the likes of rock band Rooney's style, namely in their single "I'm Shakin'." Sorensen's sound isn't as polished and is often rough around the edges, but he offers the listener a glimmer of hope with songs like the thoughtful "Fly Away." The essentially whiney "Upside" precedes "Follow Me," a track that fans of early Tree63 might appreciate. The delicate "Gloria 34" and the melodic "Red Fone" may try a little too hard to emulate U2's Bono, but still remain as the stronger efforts on the album. Overflow ends on a relatively strong note with "Sing (Or The Rocks Will Get To)" which is a catchy worship song that leaves the listener with the right mindset.

For the most part, young Taylor Sorensen is headed in the right direction with The Overflow, with the newer tracks on the record being his strongest works. While his approach isn't the most popular nor the most unique, Sorensen has a long music career ahead of him, one that should be interesting to watch.

- Review date: 2/11/04, written by John DiBiase