You know, I'm one of the few people around here that actually
thought that "Parachutes" was a brilliant record, but this new one
is indefensable. Normally, I chalk up all the hell that they catch
on ILM to playa hatin', but I must agree with the mob this time. For
one thing, it's horribly overproduced. I loved the relatively quiet,
spartan psychadelia of their debut, but now there's an abundance of
overcooked strings and synths, plodding guitar riffs and what seems
like the same damned drumbeat used for every song. The suprisingly
lousy guitar playing really hurts as their debut had a great deal of
clean, intricate guitar work, so what the fuck happened here? Maybe
it's just me, but since it's been a couple of years
since "Parachutes" shouldn't they sound more proficient and not
less? The songs themselves don't really seem to be about much of
anything, either. But maybe the lyrics ARE really good and I just
can't hear them for the loud ass string arangements! There are 2
bright spots, though. "God put a smile upon your face" is beautiful
if distant and the chorus to "Daylight" is so sweet that only a Nazi
could hate it, but that's about it. This one ain't even a grower,
folks. Now they sound like one of these schmaltzy, shitty ass
American MOR bands like Default or Lifehouse. Grade=F-/ aka
Goddamned Godawful.
― Brenya, Saturday, 3 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link