SPOCK'S BEARD

A big let down for me, due mostly I think to the fact that the new Beard sounds much, much too similar to the old. The old bombast is back, except it simply isn't exciting anymore.

The first half of this (for some reason) self-titled album stand out as being passable, with the slinky All That's Left and genuinely beautiful/creative With Your Kiss standing out as some of this era's best work; however, the once the horribly plodding Slow Crash Landing Man starts up things go down hill. The extended piece is mired in a repetitive sameness which hardly gets off the ground, and the few fleeting moments of creativity sprinkled throughout the other songs simply aren't enough to salvage the album.

Disappointing-- give us back the new Beard!

Songwriting: 2 Instrumental Performances: 2 Lyrics/Vocals: 2 Style/Emotion/Replay: 2