FULL CIRCLE

Back to the foundation? Sort of. Bombing out with the painful "The Pleasure And The Pain" they come back to their roots in some ways. The Chapters are back. The Chapters are songs that appeared on the first 4 albums and here they finally emerge again along with their old mascot, the bug. The band revealed these over a 28-year period in a mixed-up order, creating a conceptual puzzle. In its final form, The Chapters tells a science fiction story concerning the preservation of Albert Einstein's brain, aliens who are concerned with humanity's self-destruction, and the resurrection of the dead through technology. We have chapters 9, 10 and 13 on this album; usually there were only 2 on each one. Being that I started listening to them early on, this story on the chapters was not ever revealed until after they were done presenting the songs so if you are looking for the meaning I recommend their live album titled none other than "The Chapters."

While this is a good flashback to then good old days the music is just so-so but better than many albums. The songs "Remember When (Chapter 9)" and "Night To Remember" are one is like. Many of the songs are just fluff and not all that memorable. Steve Negus is back again after bowing out of the last album (he didn't have to be in Pain). This one gets a few stars but at least the next album delivers more.