SING TO GOD

I will admit, this album took me a while to get into. And it makes perfect sense (to me at least) for me, someone who is critically negative towards punk as a genre, to not enjoy the Cardiacs. However, after multiple listens over a long period of time and expanding on their discography, I've found some good in their music. First of all, the album never rests. It's always moving, transforming, and changing while staying consistent on the amount of energy the band puts into each song and always staying aggressive to help keep that motion going. The only problem is that after over an hour and a half, it can get quite overwhelming, annoying, and sometimes even bland. Speaking of annoying, Tim Smith's vocals made me want to just take a break from the album overall. He has a good vocal range and guitar skill, but he is constantly forcing his singing into every song, and that just doesn't go well with a guy (me) who mainly prefers instrumental music.

Moving on, all the songs carry at least something to be appreciated by. They all sound like the same song, not in structure, but in style. Some of my favorites include Eat It Up Worm Hero, Fiery Gun Hand, A Horse's Tail, and Wireless. These songs are some of the most complex and interesting songs on the album and can be enjoyable to dissect and discover little details in each of them. Wireless specifically explores many different aspects, seeing how it is one of the longest songs on the album. The reason my rating is 3/5, however, is because this album is essentially just a modern expansion on the band's previous albums and isn't really that new because of it. Also, I wish the songs were longer and went into further territory other than just making the same song over and over again (as I mentioned above).

In conclusion, maybe if this had come out a decade earlier, it would have been more original in my eyes, and maybe if the band had more meat on the bones of the tracks and the different sections instead of making the same thing every time, my rating would be higher. I am settling on a 3.25/5 for this album because I understand why it is loved and why it might be an important record for progressive rock enjoyers to listen to, but I wouldn't label it as an absolute essential piece. It also isn't even the band's best album (in my opinion).

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to SliprKC70
• Report this review (#3180987)
• Buy CARDIACS music online with PA partners
• Show all CARDIACS MP3/Stream
• Go to CARDIACS page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Sing to God page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for CARDIACS related discussions