TILL WE HAVE FACES

It is clear that "Till We Have Faces" is not that popular here on PA. I feel, like many people do, that it is rather uneven but it does offer more than people give it credit for. With a cool Brazilian percussion section behind Ian Mosley, it provides a very unique sound. It just never really reaches its potential. If done right, this could have been one of Steve's better albums.

I do not much care for "Duel", "Let Me Count the Ways" or "Myopia". They are all too boring, trite, or just plain annoying (in the case of the last one) for me. I enjoy the rest though. It is an ecclectic sound and something that Steve hadn't really done before. It's just a shame half the tracks seem uninspired. But, I certainly do not think it is commercial as many here have said. I don't see a single song here that could be, well, a single. I just think Steve was in the middle of progressing his sound and was trying a lot of elements (i.e. blues, world, pop). It didn't always work, but he always connected on something imo. I mean, I can find stuff to like on all of his albums and this is no different. Besides, you can find many genres of music on most or all of his albums.

I don't think it is a bad album by any means, just one that could have been a lot better than it ended up being. Final Rating: 3 stars out of 5 Highlights: Last two minutes of "Matilda Smith...", "A Doll Made in Japan", and "What's My Name".