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Archived Reviews
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After a brief sojourn into more experimental realms with the Nerve Filter project, Tom Shear gets back to basics for this new Assemblage 23 album. The preceeding single 'Binary' indicated that there weren't likely to be any significant changes to the established A23 sound here &, with one or two exceptions, this is pretty much borne out throughout these 10 tracks. This perceived lack of adventure has attracted criticism from some quarters but the fact remains that it's still impossible not to love this album, simply because the music is soooo good. Shear is the master of his craft & as soon as the opening 'Decades' reaches its anthemic & dynamic chorus any worries are quickly forgotten as this is magic, pure & simple, while the slightly harder edge that characterises 'Raw' does enough to justify the title, contrasting well with another soaring chorus & while this is slightly different from most of his work it doesn't stretch things too far. Likewise, the almost old-skool flavours that characterise 'Truth' do enough to keep things interesting, as do the rhythms of 'Crush', which initially resemble The Beatles' Tomorrow Never Knows & while it would have been really good to see this persevered with the pacey track it eventually emerges as is still well worthwhile, as is 'Sorry' which scores high in terms of 'sinagalongability' although I personally could have done without the 'dreamhouse' tribbles on the chorus, they do sound ever so slightly wussy! The one track that really does expand on the A23 sound is the superb 'Madman's Dream' which uses more organic sounds, along with some superb piano in a manner not unlike Clan Of Xymox while the vocals are delivered on a higher octave which helps make this one of the album's highlights. Indeed, Shear's distinctive vocals play, as ever, an important part in raising the music's appeal, so much so that there must be many many vocalists who would give their right arm to possess a voice with even a fraction of the emotional resonance of his voice & while they work well throughout they really find their niche on the hauntingly beautiful & majestic ballads 'Damaged' (assisted by some female backing vocals) & the closing 'Old', both of which equal the classic 'Disappoint' in terms of true emotional content. So, yes, there is very little that's radically new here but such is the quality on show here that I just don't bleeding care, to be honest!! |
