THE CARBON COPY SILVER LINING

I suppose it was a mistake to listen to this album after hearing "Dance of the Manatee" for the first time. Going back and listening to their earliest release is, in comparison, just embarrassing. The songwriting is relatively mediocre and the pieces in general are tough, if not impossible, to listen to. Not even a focused listen to this album reveals anything rewarding. It's unfortunate that Fair to Midland managed to take a fairly interesting idea (folk/death/prog) and then fail to do anything interesting with it. It's interesting in that it is the beginnings of an otherwise excellent band, but on the whole, anyone looking for anything similar to Fables from a Mayfly and other parts of their later work should run away, very quickly. Carbon Copy isn't an enjoyable listen as much as it is a physical chore.