REALITY

What can we expect from David after such a long and diverse career ? Probably not too much risky business like the music available in his two last studio albums, I guess. Time is more keen for safe projects, I gsuppose.

Still, this album is very pleasant. Especially in its initial phase. Catchy music, easy to remember. David even playing some sort of "Dorian Gray" character in "Never Get Old". This song was used in a famous and rather funny clip for "Vittel". It showed David at different moments of his life (actually, the old characters are played by a double).

The song is very energetic but so are the first three numbers, which are all excellent actually. The cover of "Pablo Picasso" form the "Modern Lovers" (an old 72 song) sounds almost punkish and the opening number ("New Killer Star") is quite upbeat as well.

The first (too) tranquil song available is the weak "The Loneliest Guy". A truly melancholic piece which lyrics aren't so sad as the title could have lead to. The rest of the album holds some more fine and crafted songs, but no real highlights.

They are just in the mold of what could have been expected from David ("Looking for Water"). One of my fave is "Days", probably because it reminds me some good old numbers. Enjoyable melody and sustained rhythm are extremely pleasant.

The bombastic (but overwhelmed with orchestration) "Try Some, Buy Some", still shines because it breaks somewhat the general mood of this album, which is definitely back with the ultra-beat of "Reality".

The weakest track IMHHO, is the jazzy "Bring Me The Disco King". The piano play from the old friend Mike Garson is of course great, but the whole lacks in texture.

The cash machine was marching alright with the release of this album as well. Lots of different versions, with bonus tracks, 5.1 versions, live tracks etc. Just to confuse the fans, I guess.

My version (a birthday present) is probably the more complete and I can only recommend it to you. As bonus track, one gets an excellent version of "Waterloo Sunset" ("The Kings") as well as a very good live DVD recorded at the Riverside Studios, in London. The whole album is played track by track and one can see David in a very good shape (like he appeared in the "Reality Tour").

In all, this is good album. But so were "Heathen" as well as "hours". No surprise here: three stars (but the packaging I have probably deserves seven out of ten).