Shawn McDonald's Roots hit the shelves just a few short months ago, but here he is again with a fresh batch of goodies. While the new release may be entitled Roots Remixed, it's not the entirety of the original. Rather, only six songs made it through.

The title track starts things off, a little faster-paced than the original, and with a sort of tribal beat leading the way for the song. It's followed by "Waltz In 3," which was a magnificent song on the original release. The song was lead by an acoustic guitar throughout, but starting the song off on Roots Remixed is a little bit of synth mixed with a very slow waltz beat. The beat picks up a lot in the chorus, and seems to take a little away from the beauty of the song, but it's still executed nicely. "Light" is next, which is slightly vamped up from the original, unlike the remix of the once-kinda-folky "Captivated," which is slowed down a tad and given a nice drum machine for the EP. The last third of Roots Remixed contains a less funky "Shadowlands" and the very industrial sounds of "Hallelujah," which still seems to be a little too lengthy, but is a good half minute shorter than its predecessor.

It's hard to really know what to expect when Shawn McDonald and the concept of a remix are put together. While none of the remixes on this EP are truly spectacular, nor are any of them superior to the originals, I was a bit surprised that they were done as well as they were. It's something I would recommend to the hardcore fans of McDonald, but casual listeners will be content having only Roots in their posession.

- Review date: 7/14/08, written by Scott Fryberger