The straight-up pop ditty seems more like an act of rebellion these days, and Stanford's embrace of stirring keys and anthemic vocals feels almost brazen. But there's a reason the formula still works. As the resilient Elton and Paul have proved, a piano man still has no real pop peer.

Dark and rich timbre--it could have been a good title for Stanford?s debut album, Big Drop, an eleven-song collection of classic pop rock: ?classic? because Stanford can evoke a mood with the dexterity of his Hall of Fame influence list; ?pop? because he dresses up his songs with imaginative-but-fitting arrangements that employ a variety of instruments playing the optimum (not too many, not too few) number of notes that all march in the service of the aforementioned moods; and ?rock? because it rocks. Think Paul McCartney circa ?Penny Lane.? Think Hank Williams? story lines salted down with the occasional dash of Randy Newman irony.