by Brian Mansfield

If a song cycle about, well, cycles sounds just a mite too conceptual for its own good, that's because you haven't heard David Olney. He can bring rugged passion to even the smartest lyric. And songs such as The Girl I Love and Chained and Bound to the Wheel aren't just smart, they're wise. Olney sings masterfully, whether on the gospel cadences of Voices on the Water or the laconic folk melodies of Stonewall. At the center is the brilliant Revolution, which seems to be about something as simple as the seasons -- "We all believe the summer lasts forever" -- but with a message that runs much deeper. Between several songs, Olney drops in little interludes that seem like half-finished motifs -- and it's only until you reach the end that you realize he has been building a round. Which, of course, is a fitting way to finish the album.