Rob Evans AOR Underground

April 2016

...Now here is an artist that deserves everyone's full attention, the wonderful Mike Thompson.  His debut album, 'Out Of My Head' is nothing short of intoxicating, the kind of album that will stick with you for years and years.  

If, like me, you like your melodic rock to be a little bit adventurous and you dig artists such as Doug Powell, Glen Burtnick, or Jellyfish , then Mike Thompson is your man.  This is quite possibly the finest independent CD that has been sent to me in many a year.  

The quality is of major label standard, the songs are astounding and the whole thing has bowled me over with its adventure and style.  Where Mike Thompson has been all these years is anyone's guess, but on the evidence of this album, it's only a matter of time before he gets noticed.  Artists like this are few and far between and need to be supported at all costs.  

In light of Glen Burtnik's absence from the recording studio in recent years, this will fill the gap nicely.

Tracks like 'Can't Be In Love', 'The One' and the wonderful 'Homestead'deserve to be heard on a wider scale...

Rob Evans AOR Underground

INDEPENDENT ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 2016

This was another strong year for the independent artist, but this year’s winners, Hand Of Dimes, stormed in at the very end of the year to snatch the crown. But that Mike Thompson album is beautiful from beginning to end. This guy deserves to be huge. Here's the top ten....

1. Hand Of Dimes "Raise".

2. Mike Thompson – “Out Of My Head”.

3. Jimi Anderson "Where Do We Go From Here".

4. Handful Of Rain "Three Days To Come Back”.

5. Magic Dance "Haunting Me".

6. Mitch Malloy "Making Noise".

7. Kaato "S/T".

8. Aces & Kings "No Hard And Fast Rules".

9. Grand Masquerade "MMXII.

10. Santa Ana Winds "S/T'"

SONGS OF THE YEAR.............

Burn these onto a CD (after buying all of the albums, of course) and I’ll guarantee that they’ll get any party started. This top-thirty is the proof that melodic rock is doing OK, thank you! 

Cats In Space – How Does It Feel

Vega – White Flag

Angels Or Kings – You Better Pray

Mike Thompson – Homestead

Hand Of Dimes – Stranger In My Home Town

White Widdow – Stranded

Santa Ana Winds – Teardrop

Defiants – Love And Bullets

Roth/Brock – If That’s What It Takes

Blood Red Saints – Arms Wide Open

Dashal Jennings The Daily Banner

June 2017

Getting ‘Out of My Head’ with Mike Thompson CD review. This was a pleasant surprise to this music critic. If you are looking for normal rock and roll music then this simply is not the CD for your player. From the opening strains, it is obvious that this is a work of love for Mike Thompson. The project was

done between Panama City, Florida and Nashville, Tennessee which is an unlikely match but it works. 

“The River”

This song has a riff that will not leave your mind once you hear it. It is classic rock with a very melodic and orchestrated sound. Think Bowie meets the Trans Siberian Orchestra and then add a little edge to it and you’ll be close to the sound.

“Radio Cosmos”

Another song with some nice guitar hooks in it. The tune is grooving and the message is one that many can identify with.

“The One”

There is a bit of a punkish feel on this one. The song reminds me of something that the Knack may have done back in the “My Sharona” days. I have to say

that this is my favorite from the CD. But then again, I still remember the sleeve on the single for “My Sharona,” maybe there is a correlation.

“Little Dreamer”

The vocal/music effects of being back in the olden days works well but might be a little long. It’s well worth the wait once the up-to-date orchestration kicks in. Nice groove.

“Jaded”

Guest Vocalist Amy Henderson sings lead on this tune and really nails the feeling. Her a-Capella vocals are quite soulful.

“Baggage”

Metal with a purpose would be a good description for this song. It is not quite hard enough for metal and not soft enough for pop. It may be a genre all unto itself.

“Homestead”

The opening strains of the piano here are so reminiscent of the Beatles or a Simon and Garfunkel song. It’s obvious that this song has a lot of deep meaning to the writer. You’ll understand that once you listen to it. Summed in one word it would be ‘Nice.’ This one is one of my favorites off the CD. Hard to believe that it is over 7 minutes long. It seems like it went by so quickly.

“Hype”

Ah yes, this is some grab and run rock and roll. The kind of song you’d hear back in the day on the midnight FM radio stations that played music that offended traditional radio.

“Thunder Island”

If you have any preconceived notions on this song based off the original song from Jay Ferguson leave them at the door before pressing play. Yes, the song

pays homage to the original but Thompson added a little modern reggae feel crossed with some power punk and the voice of country star Collin Raye. If you

happen to be a musician, that is a mouthful. Okay, pop a cold one and hit play.

“Can’t Be In Love”

There is some really nice acoustic guitar work at the beginning of this tune. It carries a mellow theme weaving its way through moments and memories. You can add this to another of my favorites on the album

“Memories of You”

Sometimes a song simply needs to exist. This is a song that is simply what it is. It has its own space, its own direction and just is a nice change from the rules. The change in structure as the song goes on might seem a little odd. It breaks a lot of musical rules along the way but in the end, it works. And after all, that’s what it’s supposed to do.

With some heavy hitters like country superstar Colin Raye and Mark Slaughter from the rock band Slaughter, you would expect this to be a stellar CD. You wouldn’t be wrong. My only negative comment is that the vocals tend to be a little low in volume in spots for my particular taste. But do yourself a favor, add it to your collection, you will not be sorry you did.

The Mike Thompson Band opened for the iconic Little River Band on June 2, 2017 in Panama City Florida. For more on Mike Thompson, visit his website and Facebook. You can buy the CD at CD Baby!

IN CONCLUSION

The Daily Banner music critic gives ‘Out of My Head’ 4 Stars out of 5! This is a great alternative rock CD to add to your collection.

Leslie Phillips Album Review: Out Of My Head

Aug 2019

Some albums aren’t the sort of work you can easily categorize and the more personal they are the more the reviewer is doomed to failure by trying to put them in a box. Mike Thompson’s album is one such work – which takes in progressive and classic rock and a good few points in-between.

Opener ‘The River’ eases you in slowly though with a classic sound that has a bit of Bowie about it to go with its progressive heart. But if you think that tells the story you’re wrong – there’s everything here from the guitar of ‘Radio Cosmos’ to the glorious recapturing of New Wave on ‘The One.’

Elsewhere you get little tastes of everything to pique your interest – there’s the a capella female vocal that makes ‘Jaded’ shine, the Metal of ‘Baggage’ and the piano-led and Folk-tinged Pop of ‘Homestead.’ Add in some Rock and Roll courtesy of ‘Hype’ and the cover of Jay Ferguson’s (Spirit) best-known solo song ‘Thunder Island’ with added notes of Punk and Reggae and you have an intriguing mix but also a challenging one that ends with the progressive and challenging ‘Memories of You.’

If you crave ‘eclectic’ this is it! And cameos from Country singer Colin Raye and Rocker Mark Slaughter add an extra point of interest.

Local artists shows beauty in the destruction of

Downtown Panama City

Kayla Tucher WMBB TV

Jan 2020

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) — A few months ago, a piano was set outside the Martin Theatre in downtown Panama City. The piano used to sit backstage of the theatre but was moved outside to promote any and everyone to sit down on the stool and play the keys.

Local musician, Mike Thompson was inspired by the instrument and says it was at that moment, he got a vision for his newest music video.

“I came out and saw this beautiful piano out here, which is the old piano from backstage before the storm was sitting out here for people to play on it and I always thought that was cool but I looked over and there was a guy who set up a little drum set right here and he was sitting there just laying down a beat and had this cool kick drum made out of an old suitcase. I saw that visual and knew I had to use it,” Thompson said.

The music video was for one of his latest singles, ‘Look What It’s Done’ from his Needful Things album.

The person who Thompson saw on the drums that day was Eric Darnell, the videographer and editor behind the video.

“I’ve never played outside on the street and I’m not an amazing drummer but I thought, ya know, I’m going to set up and just see what happens and that turns out it inspired Mike to get in touch with someone he didn’t even know and we created this music video,” Darnell said.

Darnell says his vision for the video came from hearing the song itself.

“As I listened to mike’s song over and over again, I kept seeing in my head people hugging each other and being extremely friendly to each other.”

Thompson says his partner brought the vision he had and brought to life.

“The great thing about is, Eric had this vision of people and the community coming together and working together and as lovely as this old building is and downtown with its brick and hardwood floors and everything, it’s really the people in it that make it amazing and this is an amazing community.”

Along with the band, Darnell invited many community members to join in.

“It’s very emotional. all the people in this music video had no idea what the video was about. I just contacted them, they were friends and acquaintances and I said I’m shooting a music video, do you want to come and they showed up and that speaks volumes to the way the people are now. They want things to happen and they just

showed up,” Darnell said. 

Darnell says this act is a perfect representation of how the community has come together since Hurricane Michael; when someone needed help, another showed up.

He says though, every shot in the video was completely authentic.

“All the smiles on their faces are real, as well z all the shots in the music video where people are shaking hands and hugging each other.  I purposely, when everybody showed up, made them not introduce themselves to each other so that when it was time to record and you saw them hugging each other, it was the first time any of them had met each other,” Darnell said.

While of course, the music video is to share his song, the two say they hope it will show people outside of the panhandle and Panama City how much beauty is left in the area after October 10,

2018.

“Downtown is busted, there are a lot of broken buildings but there is still beauty here, there is beauty in the comeback, there’s beauty in the story that’s happening down here and I wanted to capture that.”

You can keep up with Mike Thompson here.

The video was shot and edited within 10 hours. Watch the full music video below.