EXPERIMENTS IN MASS APPEAL

My big apology if I am the only one who gives lesser number of stars with 'only' two. But look at the dictionary of stars this site has provided us...the two stars corresponds to 'collectors / fans only'. Why do I dare to say so? Quite simple: the music this album offers is quite confusing even though the composition is is simple and straight forward. In my case I am very disappointed with this release and it's worse than their debut album which I gave a true four stars rating because they really deserved it. What I experience with this album is totally different. The music is so boring to me, there is very little variation in terms of style, melody and/or harmony. Wanna have an example? Look at the ending part of opening track 'Experiments In Mass Appeal' which has repeated notes over and over in a very boring tone.

So since I purchased this limited edition version (CD and DVD - The Making of ..sort of..) I kept thinking about why the music is so boring to me despite my openness to accept various kinds of prog.

Fundamental issue in composition. This is the root cause of everything that makes me getting bored with this album. Almost all songs run in one straight forward structure with minor changes as the music flows. What the band (maybe Mr Godfrey himself?) made was the variations in terms of ups and downs in the vein of The Mars Volta. But this is just a question of volume, being up or being down, without peculiar 'curves' that enrich the composition. Yes there are excellent riffs like those in second track 'Welcome to Nowhere' but unfortunately it's not supported with other good music harmonies. The music is kind like having a loose end with no closure at the end that makes it weak in terms of structural integrity. Observe fourth track 'Saline' that flows nowhere and it sounds like a pop music. I really hate the way the new singer Declan Burke sings ..it's not quite nice to my ears, too tiny. The fifth track 'Dear Dead Days' (6:50) sounds attractive at the intro part but there is DURAN DURAN part that makes me really down. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Duran2, but I'm not keen to talk about that kind of music in this site. It's like Duran2 in Prog?

Underutilize John Mitchel's Talent. This is a great fallacy. Actually this something to do with composition writing. I know that Mr Godfrey is the major actor in this supergroup music. But I know for sure that John Mitchel is an excellent guitarist in neo prog music. His role in Arena is very dominant. ANd down here with this album it seems like the band (Godfrey) has under utilized his talent. He can contribute more to the music, actually. Looking into deep, actually the roles of John Jowitt and Andy Edwards are also not quite dominant here.

Sonic production. I am also disappointed with the sonic quality of the record especially in handling high volume. It does not sound good at high volume, all components are blended together and there are no separation of channels.

Overall, I do not recommend to have this album. In fact, it's a great disappointment to me having this two CDs version. I don't have any intention to watch the CD two (DVD) - for what if I don't quite favor the music? For the band .. please do not get offended. I am trying to be honest and I prefer being honest than being popular.

Don't shoot me.. I'm just a prog lover!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

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