The first time I tried to listen to this, I pressed the eject button after 4 songs, unable to take any more of it. I'd heard one too many really bad bum notes from the singer as he obviously can't sing anywhere near in tune and the fact the CD itself doesn't list a producer listed on the press release as the band's Cello player is a good answer to where the problems lie with this painfully bad album.
From the out-of-focus school photo making up the album's cover on, they seem to be stuck just out of focus and out of time, like they want to make a new Incredible String Band album but don't have the right drugs. Instead, they make awful, off-key and seemingly out of tune folk. Even when the guitars sound OK on Dartford Tunnel the vocals just make my skin crawl, they are so bad.
They might have some regrets on I'll Get Back to You. My main one is they let the guy sing on it and didn't leave it as an instrumental as that would have been acceptable. Home To No Home builds to some really bad bum notes that made me hit the eject the first time and it's no less painful second time round. I just wish they'd gone home and abandoned the recording session as the last thing we need is another wimpy folk-rock album, especially one as bad as this is.
Oh My, well that's what I missed last time. Well the guitars are OK in a nice, acoustic folky way but damn, I really can't stand the vocals, they are so badly sung that no matter what the lyrical content might be I just want him to shut up and leave us with the music. That, alone, I could easily listen too.
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During A Quiet Life the singer is going on about keeping his big trap shut (if only, if only) while the backing is again palatable unlike this voice that just grates and grates. Patient Song is just background plucking with some strangled off-key singing. It's followed by Parent Song: a decent song with a different singer especially when he tries and fails to emote his feelings for his mother and father.
There Was A Love features the line "It's Never going to happen again." Yes, they are correct this will never darken my CD player again under any circumstances. It's followed by The Shape Of Your Head which would again be fine as an instrumentaL but here is ruined by the mewling of the singer.
It finishes with You Corrupted me, well yes, you corrupted my ears with the awful singing and so-so music. Oh and the guitar solo towards the end of the last song is by far the best thing on the album. What a shame it's stuck at the end and is too little too late.
If you really have to suffer this album you can find it at Splintered Man Bandcamp page but I wouldn't recommend it.
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