MEMORIES IN MY HEAD

Released as an inbetween to please the fans while they wait for the next album, this "Memories In My Head" is head and shoulders the weakest release I've seen from Riverside. There's an all pervading sense of disinterest, cliche, routine and lack of inspiration in every lengthy track on this album. Despite loving the guy, I will blame this mostly on Mariusz Duda.

The vocals are one of the main attractions for me in Riverside, but how they fail me here, Duda mumbles his way through almost unidentifiable vocal melodies that sound like 300 others he's done before. Considering how strong his melodies and delivery were for Lunatic Soul I can only conclude he wasn't into this at all. But also the guitars could be better, the main hooks on this EP have all been heard on countless other Riverside (and Marillion) songs.

Around minute 7 to 8 into "Goodbye Sweet Innocence", the band tries to save what they can and bring about an enjoyable jam. I hope that Riverside recognizes their potential in this area and will further explore this sort of improvised interaction. It's clear to me that continuing their same old kind of songwriting without having the hooks to make 'm memorable will not do for me.

A pointless EP for me with very average songs that have been stretched out to totally inappropriate lengths. I quite liked it the first time around but with every new listen my enthusiasm decreased. My dear wife (and Riverside fan) immediately told me it was entirely forgettable. Yeah, I should listen to her more, and spare me the trouble of listening 10 times to this 30 minutes of grey dullness. Sounds like the artwork, for fans only.