RAISING THE STONES

I bought this on the strength of their previous album, the excellent 'Somewhere But Yesterday'. What a disappointment this was for me! Gone were the intricate but noticeable melodies. There is hardly, with the exception of the decent opening track, a melody to be found here at all. Of course, the band suffer from being reduced to a twosome, with just a guest guitarist. In fact, there is hardly a guitar to be heard anywhere here. Cyrus, as usual, sounds quite similar to Gabriel in parts, but his lyrics have become unnecessarily vague and complex now. He doesn't seem to sing so much, as growl and shout. Stuart Bell's keyboards are still very Banksian in parts, and are the best things on offer here. His drumming is adequate, as is Cyrus's bass playing. But, as I said, the lack of melody and guitar mortally damage this album. You don't remember individual tracks here, and are not in a hurry to revisit the record. Nothing stick in the mind musically. As I said, the opening song is not too bad, but everything after it is totally forgettable. Believe me, I played this five or six times in the first couple of days I had it, just to see if it was me, and to see if things finally started to make sense and sink into my brain. It wasn't me, and they didn't. This band had huge potential. It's a pity it didn't come to fruition here. I don't possess the follow up to this, and don't intend to get it unless others can recommend it to me as a return to some kind of form. Only a return to the brilliance of the second album will change my mind. A shame really. Collectors only, I'm afraid.