A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, Forgotten Door’s release Unlocked perhaps is best left locked and forgotten. Perhaps that’s a bit harsh. Maybe I’m overstating. The band’s press says “Forgotten Door is a 6 piece original band with a unique new sound tailored to those who enjoy songs they can understand and relate to.”  This is quite possibly one of the blandest marketing lines I’ve ever heard about a band, and their music isn’t much better.

Competently played and clearly sung, the nine songs of Unlocked perhaps best illustrate the history of the band, coming from an earlier group Xpressions that played corporate and personal functions throughout the Las Vegas area.  Each song feels like it was deliberately written to be played and understood by the audience.  The lyrics are crisp and uncomplicated and uninteresting.  And the music that accompanies those lyrics songs like the practiced tones of a wedding band.  Everything fits together well enough to be recognized as songs, but each one lacks soul and emotion.  Not a single song here grabbed me out of my day, and even when I forced myself to do nothing but listen I found myself bored by the dullness of the tracks.

The worst sin committed here is on the song “Am I Your Princess?” where it finishes with an irritating use of the sounds of children playing and talking.  I’m certain that the band finds the sentimental nature of the song to be touching, but it is such a formulaic bid for heartwarming and tears that it rings hollow.

I could be wrong. I’ll never present my opinion as fact, and maybe if you give them a listen you’ll find that their songs do speak to you, do move you. But I get the feeling that my copy of Unlocked will end up in a bin for my garage sale where no one will ever buy it, except perhaps by accident.