II

I tip my hat to these guys for doing things their way.

The first track is a mellow vocal led tune before we get into the aggressive "Carafe (part II)" where we have angular guitars and mellotron and i'm cheering ! This is fantastic ! But as I said they do it their way. So in this song they change directions to a more jazzy sound part way through with rough vocals that I don't like at all. "The Marriage Of Maria Braun" is another laid back tune with the focus on the vocals. "Rhododendron" has it's moments. I like the guitar that comes in at 2 1/2 minutes joined by chunky bass. The contrast between mellow and heavy continue. Good tune.

I feel like i'm being teased again on the song "Everywhere" with the fiery, angular, ANEKDOTEN style guitars that ends too quickly as it turns wimpy in a hurry. "Just Like You" is another mellow tune i'm not a fan of. "Killer Couple Strikes Again" is a catchy, commercial sounding song. "There's Got To Be A Way to Leave" is another laid back, commercial song. Yikes ! "The Thorn In Your Flesh" may be my favourite song. I really like the instrumental parts (and of course the mellotron). "Lines" is again another slow moving tune, but the mellotron is great 5 minutes in.

I think this is a pretty good release but I can't get past the vocals and the mellow tunes.