A quick tour through Fundamental
Posted: Sat 29 Apr 2006, 1:39 pm
Well, finally got my hands on a promo copy of the most difficult to come by PSB promo since Neil burnt a CDr of his favourite 'Dust' tracks. All my normal sources drew a complete blank and it's hats off to the Boys for that. Well done!
Anyway, spent the morning pumping it through my Sony surround sound ‘mother-of-a-system’ and have come up with the following.
1. Psychological – crap - absolute heap of tosh. Can't believe they opened the album with this helping of poo which at best is a crap b-side from the Nightlife era. Saved from total revulsion by the last 45 secs but WHY IS THIS HERE?
2. The Sodom and Gomorrah Show – very good - now here's the opening track. Interesting build-up and vaguely reminds of a good Didn’t Get Where I Am Today with thumping electro/guitar combination throughout. Very catchy chorus which I could sing along to on only the second listen. As the show burns out we lead into the spooky....
3. I made my excuses and left – good - Loving the pain in the essentially instrumental opening 1m 50s. The remaining 3 minutes of song builds into a crescendo of woe without really pulling at the heart strings as much as you think it's going to. Could have been so much more.
4. M-I-N-I-M-A-L – very good - Listen to this once and wonder what all the fuss is about. Listen to it 3 or 4 times and you'll catch your self wandering down the street singing "M-I-N-I-M-A-ellll minimallll (minimal) minimalll" VERY catchy. Should be 3rd single.
5. Numb – average - I wanna be numb? OK, but why on this album? Don't get this at all. Not written by the Boys and it really shows. A grower certainly, but nevertheless this belongs on a different album or as a b-side.
6. God Willing – poor - If you're going to have this on the album it needed to be the opener. No point in it's existence here!
7. Luna Park – good - A real grower. Fits in amongst the darkness.
8. I'm with Stupid – very good - Correct choice for first single.
9. Casanova in Hell – good - This sounds like it comes from the Closer to Heaven musical. Unnerving lyrics with a big band accompaniment.... yet strangely fits in quite well with this lot!
10. 20th Century– poor - Another b-side I'm afraid. Promising intro followed by a forced tune over a repetitive 'octave' baseline that ruins what might have otherwise been a grower.
11. Indefinite Leave to Remain – average - bland, another b-side from Nightlife.
12. Integral – superb - Wow! Best stomper we've had from the Boys since 1993. 2nd single please.
Summary - 1x superb. 3x very good. 3x good. 2x average. 3x poor 7/10
Well, They've done it again. Think back to Release, Nightlife (and to a certain extent Bilingual), and what do you get....? That's right, some excellent stuff but only half an album. They've proven that they can still write a damn fine tune but remain unable to apply their best work to a whole album.
Anyway, spent the morning pumping it through my Sony surround sound ‘mother-of-a-system’ and have come up with the following.
1. Psychological – crap - absolute heap of tosh. Can't believe they opened the album with this helping of poo which at best is a crap b-side from the Nightlife era. Saved from total revulsion by the last 45 secs but WHY IS THIS HERE?
2. The Sodom and Gomorrah Show – very good - now here's the opening track. Interesting build-up and vaguely reminds of a good Didn’t Get Where I Am Today with thumping electro/guitar combination throughout. Very catchy chorus which I could sing along to on only the second listen. As the show burns out we lead into the spooky....
3. I made my excuses and left – good - Loving the pain in the essentially instrumental opening 1m 50s. The remaining 3 minutes of song builds into a crescendo of woe without really pulling at the heart strings as much as you think it's going to. Could have been so much more.
4. M-I-N-I-M-A-L – very good - Listen to this once and wonder what all the fuss is about. Listen to it 3 or 4 times and you'll catch your self wandering down the street singing "M-I-N-I-M-A-ellll minimallll (minimal) minimalll" VERY catchy. Should be 3rd single.
5. Numb – average - I wanna be numb? OK, but why on this album? Don't get this at all. Not written by the Boys and it really shows. A grower certainly, but nevertheless this belongs on a different album or as a b-side.
6. God Willing – poor - If you're going to have this on the album it needed to be the opener. No point in it's existence here!
7. Luna Park – good - A real grower. Fits in amongst the darkness.
8. I'm with Stupid – very good - Correct choice for first single.
9. Casanova in Hell – good - This sounds like it comes from the Closer to Heaven musical. Unnerving lyrics with a big band accompaniment.... yet strangely fits in quite well with this lot!
10. 20th Century– poor - Another b-side I'm afraid. Promising intro followed by a forced tune over a repetitive 'octave' baseline that ruins what might have otherwise been a grower.
11. Indefinite Leave to Remain – average - bland, another b-side from Nightlife.
12. Integral – superb - Wow! Best stomper we've had from the Boys since 1993. 2nd single please.
Summary - 1x superb. 3x very good. 3x good. 2x average. 3x poor 7/10
Well, They've done it again. Think back to Release, Nightlife (and to a certain extent Bilingual), and what do you get....? That's right, some excellent stuff but only half an album. They've proven that they can still write a damn fine tune but remain unable to apply their best work to a whole album.
