WE CAN'T DANCE

Is it prog? Nope! Is it rock? Maybe? Pop? OH YEAH! Is it good? Yuppers; great. But anything has to be than "Invisible Touch"; O.K., so that's not hard to do, is it?

I, for one, dig this disc, a lot. On "No Son Of Mine", with Banks' subtle synths and Rutherford's typically "polite" guitar, one feels a sinister element creeping in, which envelopes the listener with the abrupt, loud, dark chorus. I admit to being blown away when I first heard this song, because Rutherford seems to be so delicate during the verse, only to explode during the chorus. It's great, and sets the stage for more to come. "Hold On My Heart" is a great ballad, but the lyrics could've done with a better, more soulful delivery. I love "Jesus He Knows Me" for its sarcastic lyric. Bravo, guys!

Most of the album is top-notch, with great writing, soulful vocals and wonderful playing and production. What I didn't like was as follows:

The title track: In a word: INANE! It's lacking a strong melody, a halfway decent hook and good lyrics. Guys; come on! Above it all, Phil doesn't sing here; he mewls like a cat in heat, and it doesn't become him. I also found "Fading Lights" and "Driving The Last Spike" to be kinda mediocre, at best. It's ironic, because when they were a prog band attempting to do pop, (I KNOW WHAT I LIKE or YOUR OWN SPECIAL WAY), I disliked it. Now, with them fully immersed in pop, attempting to do prog is a mistake. This is why I only give it 4 stars. What I have done in the past is to program out those tracks. I end up with a concise 9 song disc that pleases all the way 'round. In the end, this is merely an opinion.