When singer/songwriter Harry Chapin died in 1981 at the age of only 38, he left a solid musical legacy behind... but he also left the question of what else he might have accomplished with his talents had he lived.

The Last Protest Singer is a posthumous effort that went back to the songs Chapin had been working on prior to his untimely death, culling the most complete tracks for this release. While I know we should be celebrating any new music from Chapin, I do question whether these tracks—at least in the forms they’re presented—would have actually found their way to release had he lived. Overall, the bulk of the album sounds tentative.

Chapin was never the strongest singer in his genre, but his vocals had definitely suffered some strain over the course of his short career. This can be heard in the bulk of these 11 tracks; there is an additional hoarseness to his singing that, honestly, had been building for some time prior to his death.

The problem with these tracks is that, more often than not, they sound like they’re not quite finished—as if Chapin was going to put another couple coats of musical paint on them, as it were. Songs like “Basic Protest Song,” “Sounds Like America To Me” and “I Don’t Want To Be President” all sound like there was more work that needed to be done on them, but Chapin simply hadn’t gotten around to it.

When you hear the stronger songs like “Last Stand,” “Word Wizard” and “Silly Little Girl,” that difference becomes painfully obvious, and it makes these tracks stand out all the more. In the same way, it shows the weaknesses of the more basic tracks, almost as if Chapin was still searching for the ideal story to tell in these tracks.

And therein lies the problem. Apparently, Chapin saw these songs as part of a movie that could have/would have been filmed of the same name. Maybe these songs would have more understandable had we been able to see the story and action to accompany them. Unfortunately, that will never come to fruition.

The songs presented on The Last Protest Singer were at a stage where Chapin’s backing band could bring them to a completed state—at least, completed in their eyes. And I know I should be grateful that such an album came to be seven years after his death. But there still is a part of me that wonders what this album really would have sounded like had Chapin been alive long enough to complete it. Would certain songs been left on the cutting room floor, replaced by one of the tracks that was viewed as incomplete and left off this set? Would he have come up with different material, telling stronger stories?

The Last Protest Singer remains, to me, an incomplete snapshot tacked on to Chapin’s legacy, and isn’t quite strong enough to group with some of his best-known albums and songs. It’s still worth checking out, especially if you're a diehard Chapin fan, but you might walk away from this one wondering where the story was going.

Rating: C-

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