NOISE FLOOR

I think most people aren't giving this album enough of a chance. Musically, I think this is one of their most interesting records, with songs such as Somebody's Home, Have We All Gone Crazy Yet, and Box of Spiders showing some really great incorporation of classically-flavoured composition. Ryo Okumoto's keyboard work on this album is very strong, and it is masterfully incorporated into each song. Noise Floor is probably tied with X for their best album lyrically. Apart from X, my one issue with all Spock's Beard records is that most of the lyrics are fairly awkward cringe-worthy at various points (see "Minion" from The Oblivion Particle), but this album almost entirely avoids that. Furthermore, it is consistent; it may not be a cohesive masterpiece, but every single song on it is excellent, unlike some of their previous albums. My only potential criticism is that they maybe could have picked a better song to close the album with. Otherwise, it is a very, very strong album.