THE POWER AND THE GLORY

The congealing of a style in a rock band can be a very satisfying thing to behold. It's the stuff signature albums are made of. The stylistic congruency of _The Power and the Glory_ is complete, with none of the fishing around characteristic of virtually all of this band's other albums. Instrumental color comes from a refined palette chosen for clarity and versatility and is captured with sparkle due to the band's extraordinary studio finesse. The most convoluted passages are laid bare with scientific objectivity.

Minnear sings more on this album than any other, with two songs in a row featuring his lead vocals and another featuring his voice significantly in the "middle 8."

The high quality of each riff and the perfect placement of musical ideas inspires an admiration that can only come from witnessing something truly magisterial. Without succumbing to the pointlessly experimental, the music is consistently daring and edgy. Linearity rules, and the vertical is likely to be kind of harsh when one happens upon it.

The political theme that forms the backbone of the album is executed thoughtfully and without venom. The story charts the rise and fall of a man in power, whose two-dimensionality prohibits him from seeing past his tenets and assessing the damage of their ensuing actions.