MIRROR MIRROR

I must admit, I was a huge 10CC fan for their first few albums. After kevin godley and Lol Creme left the band, I still gae them a chance. "Deceptive Bends" was actually a very good album. It managedto retain the cleverness and quirkyness that made 10CC the kings of art-pop. But soon after that, whatever made the group destinctive, both in lyrics and in songwriting, began to fade. I purchased "Look Hear?" at a used record store for fifty cents, and gave up on the band.

In 1995, while managing a record store, I received a promo of "Mirror Mirror", and gave it a listen. It confirmed my decision to not follow their releases up until that point (although revisiting them recently I found that they were bad, but not devoid of value, as this album is).

Musically and lyrically, the group had become at this point typical soft rock fodder. The words are schmaltzy and trite, and the arrangements are bland and boring. Many of the tracks seem to have completely uninspired sequencing, devoid of ay emotion.

The focal point of the album appears to be a remix of the band's classic hit I'm Not In Love. the remix to me is unnecessary, and was probably added as a way to get Godley and Creme in the credits. Later reissues have some single edits, and an acoustic version of I'm Not In Love. This version misses the best part of the song, the lush vocal overdubbed harmonies tha made up the backing track.

It is unfortunate that the band's recording career ended on such a low note, but it does appear tha Graham Goulding has been touring recently as the only original member under the band's nae.