HEAVEN BORN AND EVER BRIGHT

Well, yanno, even a great band doesn't always produce masterpieces. 'Heaven Born and Ever Bright' isn't regarded as CARDIACS' best album, and I fully support that view. It's a retrograde step from everything that went before.

Still good, though. It's hard to judge, however, because of thr sweeping personnel changes. Gone is the musical heart of the band: WILLIAM D DRAKE, the brilliant keyboardist and the glue that kept the CARDIACS sound at its effervescent best, left the band, as did SARAH SMITH and TIM QUY. This is now TIM SMITH's band, and they are somewhat reduced to say the least. We've lost that joyful abandonment. There's far fewer silly moments, and the music is far more monolithical, more serious, studious.

This doesn't mean there's nothing to like. The musicianship is still exemplary, and the band still plays around with your perceptions of where a song might be heading. But there's nothing here that truly startles, nothing that sticks a meaty paw around your throat and demands you pay attention. None of that up-yer-bum cheekiness. The highlight is probably 'Anything I Can't Eat', which would be a good track on any other CARDIACS album, but is great here.

A nice little ruby in a field of diamonds, that's what this is.