This same phenomenon is often times true of bands.  On New Years Eve 2003, Tony Villanueva and Brian Hofeldt, after 11 years together touring, writing and recording, played their last show together in The Derailers.  Villanueva decided to step away from the road to concentrate on God, family and songwriting while Hofeldt continues with the band which had become torchbearers of the Bakersfield Sound. In the time between now and then, the band members have shuffled a bit and Hofeldt had a fortuitous meeting with songwriter and producer Buzz Cason.  You might recognize a few of Casons� songs such as �Love�s The Only House� by Martina McBride and �Everlasting Love� covered by artists such as Gloria Estefan, U2 and Jamie Cullum (or in those internet dating commercials).  After seeing the Derailers at a festival in Texas, Cason offered to produce an album for the band.  Being a Beatles fan, and �Soldier of Love,� one of Cason�s songs having been covered by them, Hofeldt jumped at the chance. The result is a little uneven, unfortunately.  Or perhaps it marks a transition in the history of the Derailers.  With Villanueva gone, it sounds like Hofeldt was able to indulge a bit more in the Beatles side of their sound, which is not out of character and has always been an element, but one that played a more supporting role than the upfront role on Soldier of Love.  Cason co-wrote eight of the fourteen tracks, while Hofeldt had a hand in thirteen of the fourteen. The album kicks off with �Cold Beer, Hot Women & Cool Country Music,� a track in vintage Derailers style straight from a Bakersfield honky-tonk.  The second cut, �She�s A Lot Like Texas,� finds the band moving a little East with a sound that is heavier on high-end steel guitar work and a driving beat as they press the accelerator across the state. �Soldier of Love,� a song covered most notably by �60�s soul man Arthur Alexander, Pearl Jam and the Beatles, find the band in full �60�s country/pop swing.  The background vocals are a Beatlesque �Soldier of Love/Sha la� bordering more on tribute than homage.  The track, while not a tremendous stretch for such a capable band with deep influences, does show the roots of their branching out. �Donna Sue Earline� cowritten by Cason and Hofeldt is where it begins to unravel for me.  The first three tracks, while varied in styles, kick the album off nicely.  �Donna Sue Earline� kicks off with a Bo Diddly beat and doesn�t progress from there.  The song sounds stale and it�s only redeeming factor is that each band member gets to stretch out their chops, which hopefully will translate to extended jam in concert that works better than the two and a half minutes here which sound like they could have been recorded by any bar band across the country. To follow up that track, another Cason track, �The One Before Me,� takes the band to a softer, mellower place.  The song itself, about a being in a relationship with someone who has yet to release their past, again stretches what fans expect from the Derailers with its dense background vocals and Hofeldt�s doubled, reverb-rich vocal.  The song, or even its performance isn�t bad, but it stands out because of it�s placement on the album between the lame �Donna Sue Earline� and the rollicking �Hey, Valerie!� which sounds like a tribute to the Killer. It takes two more songs (�Get �er Done� which is musically sound but utilizes the dreadfully overused �Get �er Done� as it�s hook and �Cattin�� which sounds like Eddie Rabbit paying tribute to The Grateful Deads� �Truckin��) to get to �Every Time It Rains� which is a track that sounds like the Derailers of old.  �Everything I Believe In� takes the band back to the �60�s pop influences they laid bare earlier in the disc. �An American Man� is Hofeldt�s tribute to the Man in Black telling his story in low tone backed by the boom-chicka-boom of the band.  The last three tracks, the soul/surf/honky-tonk instrumental �Poppycock,� �You�re Looking At The Man� and �It�s Never Too Late For A Party� firmly place the Derailers back in the smoky honky-tonks they are known for. I can�t fault the band for wanting to stretch its wings and try something new with their fresh start.  Only time will tell if the more classic pop influences are a passing experiment or the signal of a new direction for the band.  So let me put it this way: If you are a fan of great music with varied influences taken song by song (with one noted exception), you will enjoy Soldier of Love.  It you are a Derailers fan, it might take a few listens to get used to the more heavily �60�s Pop influenced tracks, but I think you will enjoy it as a whole. Website: http://www.derailers.com/ Purchase Soliders of Love at LoneStarMusic.com