Les Pillitteri’s press release compares him to Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Tom Waits. He reminds me more of Bon Jovi or Bryan Adams. This local Colorado singer-songwriter has performed at Herman’s Hideaway, among other venues.
His five-song demo CD opens with a Bon Jovi-esque rock number, “Cowboy Buddhist,” with the Zen-repetitive chorus “What should my mantra be?” The second song sounds like something off of Monster Ballads—the lights go down and the long-haired, leather-panted singer pulls out his acoustic guitar and sings the heartfelt ballad, alone.
The third song, “Fossil,” begs to be sung at Red Rocks, obviously avoiding pop-rock lyrical clichés, claiming, “You ain’t no dinosaur/ You’re just a fossil.” He again avoids these clichés on “Lonely,” with the thought-provoking line, “You did me wrong.”
His last song again sounds like an ‘80s power ballad—I can picture the video now, with the blonde supermodel crying in the king-size bed. Les Pillitteri is the perfect singer-songwriter for those whose pop tastes ended when Guns ’n Roses still ruled the charts but want to feel cultured and rootsy.
(If you find this review too snarky for your tastes, perhaps you could tell PR people to stop comparing their clients to true musical originals. Wait until you’ve influenced millions of people to compare your songwriting to Bob Dylan’s, please.)
