I'm putting this in here as, although I'm obviously not breaking any new ground, I am deadly serious and I'm interested to hear from people whose views I actually respect (newbies and Euros don't come in here, right?).
I bought the album today and I've just played it. I hate it.
I hadn't listened to the mp3's for a few weeks and was hoping that absence makes yada yada yada and the "perfect" sound quality (yeah right, more on that in a minute) would let me appreciate things more, but actually it's got worse.
The production - awful. I know Bruce likes the 60's but that doesn't mean we have to go back to medium wave through a transistor radio, does it? So many instruments, and yet it's just a mush. Or maybe that's why it's just a mush, although The Rising didn't sound anywhere near this bad. I'm sure there's some nice guitar or sax parts in here somewhere, but Brendan doesn't want us to hear them.
Never is it more obvious than when Terry's Song starts. Oh fuck, is that a piano? Wow, I can actually hear it. And listen, there's an acoustic guitar in the other speaker. So this is what music's supposed to sound like....
And the songs. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Well, OK, apart from Livin' In The Future and Girls In Their Summer Clothes which are actually memorable for their teeth-grating cheesiness.
But the rest of 'em? They just wash over me. The epitome of bland. You'll Be Coming Down, or even worse, Your Own Worst Enemy - what the fuck is that? It's just nothing! Four tracks in, and now I'm starting to get annoyed and it's a challenge not to hit the fast forward button. I think the next one started with a harmonica and acoustic guitar, but as it sounded like it was coming from my neighbour's garage, I couldn't really tell.
Lyrics? Schmyrics. If he doesn't want me to hear what he's singing, why should I make the effort to go and read it?
I think this one's gonna go down as the very definition of average, folks. The only ones I'm tempted to try again are the JJ Cale homage and the Nothing Man / LOHAD remake.
I'm revising my initial 6/10 down to 4/10.
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