This took me on a journey! I loved it
Having grown up listening to the Police, it's very hard to be objective about this. Is it my favourite Police album? No; that goes to their debut. Is it still a very consistent, creative and foot-tappingly fun album? Yes. 100%.
Short, bittersweet and twanging of Nashville. This reminded me of both Leonard Cohen and Wilco. The songwriting is equal parts witty and depressing and this seeps into the overall mood of this album. Some songs, such as I Remember Me, Room Games and Diamond Rain, and Tennessee stood out to me. As for the rest, despite clever songwriting and talented musicians, I found the consistent downtempo feel of the album did drag in places. I'm glad to have heard this and will be returning to some of it to listen again.
As one of the albums that got me properly into music, I would be lying if I said that I didn't approach this with some apprehension. It had been a while since I'd listened and the last thing I wanted was to ruin a memory of such an exciting time in my musical memory. I was happily proven wrong. If anything, with more informed political opinions, the dystopian imagery throughout rang truer for me than ever before. By the end of opener Take A Bow, I was 15 again; by the end of the album, I had fallen in love with Muse again. Critics will argue over their best album; is it this or is it Absolution? For me, this is them at their most inspired, demonstrating their best songwriting, best variety and sheer talent of these musicians.
That voice!! Absolutely loved this album. These versions of Change Gonna Come and I’ve Been Loving You Too Long are stunning… but so is the rest
There really isn’t much to say that hasn’t already been said about this record. It’s brilliant.
I changed my mind so many times about this album while listening to it. The singles on this album are great and the first four songs get the album off to a great start. Then Catching the Butterfly Comes. It’s a decent song, followed by 3 minutes of guitar solos very similar to the track before it. The short and shoegazey Neon Wilderness is a breath of fresh air before the album threatens to lose me again. My ears perk up at Weeping Willow and I have the pleasure of an incredible run of songs to finish the album. Obviously Lucky Man is great, but I did really enjoy This Time and the album's ending in chaos with the very trippy Come On. The hidden track at the end is a fun detail but it doesn’t really add anything musically.
In summary- when this album is great, it’s really great. I would agree with it being essential listening. However, it really could benefit from a haircut. Hence the 3 stars. I would give it 3.5 if I could but there are one too many songs on there that I want to skip.
