Winnipeg Sun
October, 2005

If you wanna know what Colin James is listening to, just put on one of his CDs. Last year, the Canadian blues-rocker was into Lennon and Hendrix, both of whom he covered on Traveler.

This year, Colin's been digging on Rockpile and Dylan, judging by the versions of 'When I Write the Book' and 'Watching the River Flow' that show up on his 10th album Limelight. But the guy who seems to be in heavy rotation on Colin's iPod these days is Van Morrison.

If the reworkings of 'It Fills You Up' and 'Into the Mystic' here aren't enough of a hint, the horn-flecked soul of James' own 'Better Way to Heaven' and the title cut (which is, sadly, not a Rush cover) oughta do it.

Of course, there's more to Limelight than that. Between the covers, James offers up a nicely varied slate of gritty electric blues-rockers, laid-back acoustic numbers and even some straight-up guitar-pop, all punctuated with his vibrant, ice-pick axe work. And hey, just be happy he's not listening to the new Backstreet Boys album. 3 1/2