release date: May 1994
format: cd (US issue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Nova Mob & Chopper Black
label: Restless Records - nationality: USA
Track highlights:
1. "Old Empire" (4 / 5) (video) -
2. "Shoot Your Way to Freedom" -
3. "Puzzles" -
5. "Little Miss Information" -
7. "I Won't Be There Anymore" -
8. "Please Don't Ask" -
9. "The Sins of Their Sons" -
10. "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" -
*12. "Not Talking About"
*Bonus track on US issue
[ full album ]
2nd and final studio album by Nova Mob following more than three years after The Last Days of Pompeii (Feb. 1991). Since the debut, the line-up has changed a few times ending up with just two members from the initial line-up: primary songwriter, guitarist and lead vocalist Grant Hart and bassist Tom Merkl. They are here joined by new guitarist Chris Hesler and new drummer Steve Sutherland now making the band a quartet.
After the album release also bassist Merkl left and was subsequently replaced by Marc Retish, and with this line-up Nova Mob embarked on a European tour before disbanding by the end of the Summer of '94 after which Hart continued as a solo artist.
The style and music this time sounds like a mix of the debut album and the music by Hart's former band Hüsker Dü - at least when compared to their last three albums. This means the tempo has slightly been turned up and there's a bolder use of distorted guitars, which bonds with the playing style of Bob Mould. The standard international issue comes with eleven tracks, whereas the US release is expanded with two bonus tracks. Hart is credited all lyrics and music except two compositions on which he is co-writer with Merkl and Hesler respectively (tracks #7 and #11).
Strangely, the album received mixed reviews commenting (see allmusic.com review) that the songs and the songwriting suffers from being a mere Hüsker Dü rip-off. Grant Hart wrote and composed half of the music in that band, and if anything it only bonds more closely with the music of his former band, and then there're some very fine new songs on this. The production sound was kind of poor on the debut, and here there's an improvement as it demonstrates more dynamics, but on the other hand it's still not all that impressive. The drums sound flat and one-dimensional and the album simply seems short of layers, which makes the single instruments battle too much in having the most power. Perhaps there's a desire to come close to the sound of live recordings - but as far as the songwriting goes and after the disbandment of Hüsker Dü, this is not only the best by Nova Mob, it's also the (so far) best by Grant Hart.
I like it, it's gooood..
[ 👎allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]
