BEFORE AND AFTER SCIENCE

If you want ambient and pop well-blended together, then there you have it. This maybe a tougher album to get into since the elements of pop tend to get in the way for my aura to absorb the essence of the ambient side of this record. Nonetheless, this is a really good piece of work, and it is quite likely that you won't be wasting your time listening to it if you give it enough attention. My personal biggest favorite is 'Here He Comes', where those synths are really penetrating my mind once again (after having a delightful experience with "Another Green World".) But it is not all ambient pop throughout the album; some of the songs here are just catchy, quirky, and happy, which provides the album with some contrast. That's good.

On a side note: has it not been for the title of the fourth track, I would have given that track a single star. Given its title, it is funny musico-conceptually. "Now you see the rabbit, now you don't." But then the magic for some reason fails the guy ? the bunny doesn't show up again, so now he just looks embarrassing. Then his head disappears because he stuck his head into it. Bottom line is: let you imagination do the trick here. This is more than just some lousy soundtrack.

Ratings/comments (if you have to ask):

1. 'No One Receiving' - ****

2. 'Backwater' - ****

3. 'Kurt's Rejoinder' - **

4. 'Energy Fools the Magician' - ***

5. 'King's Lead Hat' - ***** (I like the guitar tone here better than the guitar tone on The Ramones' debut, believe it or not.)

6. 'Here He Comes' - *****

7. 'Julie With' - *****

8. 'By This River' - *****

9. 'Through Hollow Lands' - ****

10. 'Spider and I' - ***** ("We sleep in the mornings. We dream of a ship that sails away. A thousand miles away." Who else could think of such music?)

Stamp: "I like it."

"Wait a second, I don't get it. If you have quite a number of five-star tracks on this album, why did you give it a four or a four and a half?" The answer is: the effect of this album on me was short-living. It's a relationship that didn't last long because it just stopped working. It just needs a lot of focus on the emotional depth of some of the songs here. But, please, don't be discouraged from listening to this work. Critics love it, and, even though that doesn't mean that you have to like it, why don't you just give it a/another shot if you don't like it?

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