SIR ARMY SUIT

After such an epical masterpiece that was 'Hope', it seemed Klaatu had little to do but retreat back to their comfortable Beatle's like 'poppish' songs that could be found on their first album. Whether it was just from the band being tapped out of the creative flow, or if they just wanted to sell albums, or if they just wanted something light, what ever the case is, this album doesn't feature any of the darker, fuller, deep ambience songs that made Klaatu a stand alone band.

Instead, what we find on this album is a bit of light music that can be found on almost any soft rock radio station. Now this isn't such a bad thing, since the first song on this album is quite a nice treat to the ears. 'A Routine Day' pays homage to the common citizen, the average Joe on the street that we pass every day on to our own way of live. And who does that common citizen see every day on their way to their lives? That's right, it's us. It's an ever going cycle of common folk seeing other common folk living out their lives.

What would happen if everyone just said enough of this, and went on a holiday? Well, the result of that question is found on the second best song on the album 'Everybody Took a Holiday'. This song, written in 1978, talks about the past of 1985, when everyone said they had enough of this and just stopped the daily routine. The concept of the song is unique, and heck if the song wasn't so bouncy you'd swear you were in a bubble.

'Perpetual Motion Machine' sounds like it came straight from a 1940's-1960's television game show were the main price is a dinning room lamp, and is also the third tolerable song. The song offers the same bounce that was found in 'Everybody Took a Holiday', so it's not such a bad song, and it has a good point to it. We buy things that we really don't need, but looks 'cool' and 'new'.

The last song on the album is 'Anus of Uranus' played backwards, and stretched out to five minuets with the title 'Silly Boys' stuck to it. This proves and debunks the myth that when playing music backwards we get subliminal messaging. The great thing about this song is trying to figure out what you hear for yourself. Each person I talk to about this song says they hear a different thing. Now that's something truly unique to music.

Unfortunately, the rest of this album has very little to offer. It just seems they ran out of things to say, so they did the usual copout situation and wrote love songs. I have nothing against songs ABOUT love, but love songs? I'm sorry, but when I hear it, I can't take it seriously. I don't care that you wrote a song for that special someone and then play it for them, just don't record it and waste space on a record. Love songs should only be played live or on a one on one basis. These songs weaken the album exponentially.

Had the album just featured the better parts of the album, it would receive a three star rating. The songs are good, but for progressive music, it really isn't essential. They're nice to listen to from time to time, and they have a nice happy feeling to them which is always to be appreciated. Unfortunately, the album also sports six songs that really are not that original. It saddens me even more to know these guys are capable of so much more. Nothing is more annoying then knowing artists such as these use such typical copouts that pop artists use to fill an album. This downgrades the album to a two star rating album.

This album is good for the masses. Most people will enjoy this album. Most people who do not like progressive music will enjoy this album because all songs follow the similar song structure of verse, choirs, verse, choirs. Most people who enjoy progressive music will probably not enjoy this album. Somewhere along the line Klaatu seemed to abandon their progressive roots to explore more of the mainstream of music. I almost feel betrayed as a fan. But at least they included 'A Routine Day' which picks up the album and makes the album listenable.

Two stars, for progressive album standards. But they do have a point, "Why can't you see you're just a cog, working like a dog? You trade your future for a dead end job, that's full of routine days."

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