A MILLION VACATIONS

After the incredibly Mutiny album, could Webster better themselves yet another time? With the bar being placed so high, this was to be a tough challenge, to which Max partially succeeded. Clearly still frustrated by their lack of international stardom being still denied, Webster responded by a more commercial album, but this was at the cost of some of their harder-edged songwriting. But the average quality of the tracks on this album is at an all-time high for them. Not one weak track on this baby (this was something they could never avoid before) and many semi-classics. One of the major changes is that the album is not produced by Terry Brown anymore, but by a much poppier producer de Nottbeck. And wow, does it change things quite a bit!!

In some ways, you can feel that something was changing in the group as Watkinson is a bit more present (he gets two tracks in this time) and his playing is even more present than in previous albums. Most of the tracks are out to be very commercial, and it does show and dare I say it hamper a bit the album, as the sound is clearly designed to be smoother. Right from opener Paradise Skies to the title track, the writing is a bit more conventional with less dynamics or breaks (FM radio-friendly rock anyone?). And as much as Watkinson tries, his two tracks (the good Charmonium and the perky Let Go The Line) do not manage to better Mitchell's more subdued songwritings.

Only the last (live) track Research and second last Rascal Houdi are there to remind you that Webster could also be an explosive powerhouse, but unfortunately this is much too late to save the album. And clearly this raw side of the group was eclipsed in order to achieve that desperate (and yet elusive) success. One of the best example I can think to show you what's happening albums is that on the Look Out track (clearly their best on this album), everything was set for a superb and searing guitar solo in the first part, and we get a good but tame-sounding KB solo tat takes away the edge of the song, while the superb ending (worthy of their previous "epic tracks") is simply drowned out by a stupid (and botched IMHO) production job. Sun Voices is rather cute and leads off into their habitual Moon references, which is still in context of their typical mentality.

Sadly no matter how good Webster were making albums; they could not seem to break internationally (until way too late) and it was clear frustrations were becoming apparent. After a live album, Watkinson will leave the group, leaving Mitchell alone at the helm. And if Universal Juveniles would finally crack open the charts for Webster, it was clear that Watkinson had taken a big chunk of their spirits with him. If I seem down on this album (I think I explained fairly why), it is not that bad, and maybe to my memories, I still classify this album as a classic Webster album: if you are to listen to those songs but imagine a Terry Brown production, this album would've been another killer.