LOVE, FEAR AND THE TIME MACHINE

You won't hear me complaining about the direction RIVERSIDE is going musically these days. It seems to me they are following in Steven Wilson's footsteps with these melodic, more mainstreamed songs. But they are amazing songs! The lyrics and music on this album have moved me many times over the last couple of weeks. So we get an hour of meaningful music bringing to mind THE CURE, Steven Wilson and ANATHEMA.

It's impossible to pick my top three songs here but I could do a top six. "Lost(Why Should Be Frightened Of A Hat?)" is a top six. The organ floats as the bass and vocals join in. It stays laid back until just before 2 1/2 minutes when it kicks into gear. Some nice sounding guitar a minute later, along with the chunky bass. "Come, follow me, we'll go down where the river flows". So uplifting! "Under The Pillow" opens with picked guitar and atmosphere as reserved vocals join in. I like the spacey synths and prominent bass before 1 1/2 minutes. Nice guitar/ organ section after 4 minutes. "How long can you hold your breath under the pillow".

"#Addicted" is my favourite tune. There's an eighties vibe here, especially THE CURE. "So hashtag me and go cause i'm addicted to your love." Just some killer bass work along with those incredible vocals that are so pure. I like the almost one minute closing section of acoustic guitar and melancholic synths that don't even seem like it's the same song, but man it works so well. "Caterpillar And The Barbed Wire" is a top six. This sounds so good early on with those vocals, bass and atmosphere. A classy guitar solo before 4 minutes, and I love the final minute of this song. "Saturate Me" another top six. A fairly powerful start to this one with the organ and guitar standing out. Riffs come and go then we get a change after 2 minutes as it calms right down with electronics and spacey vocals. "I don't want to feel like i'm no one anymore, in my invisible "oh" life". So good!

"Afloat" is sad with reflective vocals and picked guitar. It reminds me of the "Judgement" era of ANATHEMA. Some atmosphere a minute in and the organ floats in as well. Melancholic lyrics to this one as well. "Discard Your Fear" is a top six. I like how this builds and it reminds me of THE SMITHS early on. The vocals are higher pitched than usual. Love the bass and spacey synths. It turns so uplifting 2 1/2 minutes in as well as at 4 minutes and 6 minutes. Nice! It's heavy with some ripping guitar 5 minutes in. "Towards The Blue Horizon" is the final top six. Acoustic guitar melodies to start as releaxed vocals join in. The lyrics are so good, so moving. This is a song about missing a past love. "We just lived our lives". It turns intense before 3 1/2 minutes and we get some MAIDEN-like lead guitar 4 minutes in followed by organ then riffs. There's a beautiful section 6 minutes in. "I just miss those days wish I could be strong when darkness comes".

"Time Travelers" is a song about regret and it opens with strummed guitar and vocals. This one is my least favourite but it's still quite good. "Found(The Unexpected Flaw Of Searching)" really reminds me of Wilson's "Perfect Life" on the chorus at least. This one is very emotional and probably deserves to be in my top six but then this simply shows how solid this album is. It's so moving the way it starts and it turns fuller after a minutes. "Oooh, it's a lovely life". I also like the line "In my yearning for daylight I find you in my soul."

This was a huge surprise after reading about how mainstream it was, but this is simply great music no matter how you look at it.