|
This is the second album from German band New Concept following on from their 2000 debut "Wheel Of Love" further develops their style of easily accessable, polished synthpop although the opening "U Stop Me" grabbed my attention in a most unorthodox way as the car alarm at the beginning sounds exactly like one in my street-gave me quite a start, that did! Still, panic over & I could enjoy the rest of the track which sees the band setting their stall out in no uncertain terms with a solid & enjoyable synthpop sound, something that continues over into the following "Waiting" which adds some effective guitar on the chorus along while the vocals bear a strong resemblance to REM's Michael Stipe, believe it or not! This similarity actually gives the band a more recognisable sound & works especially well on the easier-going tracks such as "U2 Night" (don't know if this is a reference to Bono & Co. or not!), "Return" & "Sky" where the guitar takes a more central role. This leads to some slight De/Vision similarities & just like much of DV's recent work "Blue Dress" (yes, another DM cover!) &, to a lesser extent "Live And Die" go a bit too far in terms of MOR blandness, despite both showing some initial promise although the instrumental "...Met You At 46" shows the band's musical capabilities off to the full, building from an effective piano solo into superbly heartfelt & majestic piece, nothing at all bland here, even if I do have some slight reservations about the Arabian melodics that crop up at one point! "Wild Brain", however, reminds me more of Wolfsheim & although New Concept are in no way a copyist band they are very much in the same synthpop ball park with the more up-tempo numbers like "Station Man", the slightly more urgent "Flash In The Night" & the trance-like "Love Is Blind" providing a greater degree of variety & dynamics.
Overall, this is a pleasant & consistently enjoyable listen for synthpop fans that, even with 12 original tracks on offer never gets boring although I'm sure the two bonus remixes will give many listeners a shock as both the 'R 'n' Voice Remix' of "Station Man" & the 'rough version' of "Sky" are both radically different from what has gone before, especially in the latter case where the accoustic drums & heavy guitars are about as different as it's possible to be & while this may upset some synthpop purists it does add a welcome twist to the album's tale.
|
