DOOMSDAY AFTERNOON

This one is difficult to rate. There is no denying Phideaux's brilliance, songwriting ability and orchestrations, as well as his prolific output. This, however, is not enough to land this album 5 stars. The journey is a pleasant one and the listener's interest is held throughout. The themes are well developed musically. Lyrically it holds together. The feel is that this album should have been 1 epic song, since that is the way it plays both literally and figuratively as there is no break between most of the pieces.

So then, why not 5? Although I have thoroughly enjoyed the album with every listen there seems to be a lack of dynamics that should accompany this work. The opener, micro softdeathstar is the closest thing to an epic listen but fails to contain any one passage that generates any real anticipation. Although all of the songs are very good and well done, there is not a single one that I would buy the album for. There is a certain sameness or relatedness that fails to sufficiently move me. Maybe this was by design. I appreciate the nuanced nature of the songs, but do not feel compelled to relisten to any particular song. On any album that titilates, there is at least one song, or a few, that reach you on an emotional level, at least in spots. I never got that here.

This may be the basis of a great broadway play, as some of the songs remind me of such music. Crumble for instance somehow calls up memories of The Fantastiks (go figure). Beautifully sung, pretty melody, an interesting song, but made for the theatre. Accessability is a good thing, but I think this work would have been better served with the occasional harder edge, especially since its theme is so dark and message so foreboding. I would definitely pay to see Doomsday Afternoon as a musical, and maybe give it 5 stars in that format, but as an album its a 4. However, I fully expect that Phideaux will give us more than a few 5's in the near future.