Eddie Vedder "Ukulele Songs" (2011)

Ukulele Songs
release date: May 31, 2011
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Adam Kasper and Eddie Vedder
label: Monkeywrench Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Can't Keep" - 2. "Sleeping by Myself" (4 / 5) - 3. "Without You" (4 / 5) (live on Letterman) - 4. "More Than You Know" - 6. "Broken Heart" (4 / 5 ) - 7. "Satellite" - 8. "Longing to Belong" (4 / 5) - 12. "Sleepless Nights" (feat. Glen Hansard) - 13. "Once in a While" - 15. "Tonight You Belong to Me" feat. Chan Marshall (Cat Power)
[ full album ]

2nd solo album by Eddie Vedder is a 16-track album and a really daring release. Many Pearl Jam fans must have stood with mouths wide open listening to this the first time, however, it's much more an album I wished for having listened to the man for the past 2 decades in mostly hard rock grunge rock and alt. rock settings. This is the gentle and more "naked" side to his talent. He has a gorgeous voice and it really suits him to sing these simple songs accompanied only by ukulele, regardless the simpleness, 'cause his voice lifts the songs alone.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Mogwai "Les Revenants EP" (2012) (ep)

Les Revenants EP, ep

release date: Dec. 17, 2012

format: digital (4 x File, MP3 - ROCKACT73D)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,36]

producer: Mogwai

label: Rock Action Records - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Wizard Motor" (4 / 5)

4 track ep release by Mogwai preceeding the release of the soundtrack album Les Revenants (Feb. 2013). Three of the compositions are also found on the full soundtrack album, although only the first track, "Wizard Motor" is kept (almost entirely) in this version, whereas the two other tracks (tracks #3 and #4) offer quite different arrangements, and the short track #2 doesn't figure on the soundtrack.

Just as with the full album, it's difficult to embrace these compositions as anything else than a music score, but "Wizard Motor" sticks out as a fabulous track that doesn't sound like anything else and simply makes it worth to know this ep.

Best of 2006:Amy Winehouse "Back to Black" (2006)

original cover

Back to Black
release date: Oct. 30, 2006
format: cd (2007 Deluxe Edition)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,48]
producer: Mark Ronson, Salaam Remi
label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: Disc 1) 1. "Rehab" - 2. "You Know I'm No Good" - 3. "Me and Mr. Jones" (live) - 4. "Just Friends" - 5. "Back to Black" - 6. "Love Is a Losing Game" (5 / 5) (live) - 7. "Tears Dry on Their Own" (live on Later) - 8. "Wake Up Alone"
Disc 2) 1. "Valerie" (5 / 5) - 2. "Cupid" - 3. "Monkey Man" (live) - 4. "To Know Him Is to Love Him" - 5. "Hey Little Rich Girl" (feat. Zalon & Ade) (live) - 6. "You're Wondering Now" - 8. "Love Is a Losing Game" (Original Demo)

2nd studio album by Amy Winehouse released three years after her debut album contains 6 tracks produced by Mark Ronson and the remaining 5 tracks on the standard album produced by Salaam Remi. The Deluxe Edition released 13 months later is a double disc album with the standard album in a remastered edition and a bonus disc with a collection of B-sides and live recordings.
The original album peaked at number #1 on the UK albums chart list, just as it did in many countries world-wide including Austria, France, Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland and New Zealand. It also went as high as number #7 on the American Billboard 200, and when it was reissued as a double disc it peaked at number #2. It contains a number of great tracks and several singles made it to top-10 in the singles charts, although none were topping the charts. The first single from the album was "Rehab", peaking at number #7 on the UK chart list, This was followed by "You Know I'm No Good", peaking at number #18, "Back to Black", peaking at number #8, and "Tears Dry on Their Own" and "Love Is a Losing Game" peaking at number #16 and #33 respectively.
Now, how do you pick a short list displaying only the best tracks from this album? It's an impossible task, and with the double disc edition it doesn't become any easier with a bonus disc full of gems including ska revival and rock steady tracks, e.g. "Hey, Little Rich Girl" (org. by The Specials), "Monkey Man" (by Frederick 'Toots' Hibbert) and "You're Wondering Now" (by Clement Seymour 'Sir Coxsone' Dodd). All songs here are wonderful examples of this woman's extraordinary gift and great potential.
"Back to Black" is naturally included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" as it's one of the most evident top-of-year album releases, you may come across.
Highly recommended.

2006 Favourite releases: 1. Amy Winehouse Back to Black - 2. Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - 3. Band of Horses Everything All the Time

2007 2-Disc
Deluxe Edition

Modest Mouse "Strangers to Ourselves" (2015)

Strangers to Ourselves
release date: Mar. 17, 2015
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,74]
producer: Isaac Brock, Tucker Martine, Brian Deck, Andrew Weiss, Clay Jones
label: Epic Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Strangers to Ourselves" - 2. "Lampshades on Fire" (live) - 3. "Shit in Your Cut" - 5. "Ansel" - 6. "The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box" - 7. "Coyotes" - 8. "Pups to Dust" - 12. "God Is an Indian and You're an Asshole" - 14. "The Best Room"

6th studio album by Modest Mouse is the band's first full studio album in 8 years, and the line-up has changed considerably over this relatively long time span. Former The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who only took part in the band line-up from 2006-09, left the band (and joined The Cribs in 2009) and he was replaced by Jim Fairchild. 2012 meant even bigger changes as founding member and bassist Eric Judy and percussionist Joe Plummer both left the band - their replacements were Russell Higbee and Davey Brozowski, and the band was expanded by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Lisa Molinaro - and in 2014 also percussionist Ben Massarella, who had previously contributed on The Moon & Antarctica joined the group. This means that by now only the band's leader, vocalist and lyricist Isaac Brock and drummer Jeremiah Green have been in the band since 1993, and that Modest Mouse, which started out as a trio by now has become an octet.
The long time span and a completely new line-up sounds like something that would leave more than a significant mark on the output, but Strangers to Ourselves ultimately sounds like Modest Mouse more than anything and almost strangely follows closely on the path laid out on the 2007 album. Brock and Green sharing the steering wheel apparently guarantee the destination of the ride, where the journey perhaps has become more laid back and gentle. A song like "Lampshades on Fire", "Ansel" and "The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box" are songs that could easily have been part of the 2007 release, whereas other compositions are less energetic and seem more driven by narration. Without being weak, the opening title track really takes off in a completely new territory, which could scare some fans off, but the whole album is more than anything a solid experiment and pleasant return of this fascinating band. From my perspective, the album is a typical Modest Mouse album as it contains chorus-founded and melody-driven uptempo tracks and a particular amount of quirkiness. It also has the qualities of stronger albums as it unfolds itself along the way. It seems that no matter what happens in and around this band, Isaac Brock remains the captain of this vessel called Modest Mouse, and he makes sure that no matter the obstacles ahead, he'll bring forth the goods.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, Q Magazine 3 / 5, Rolling Stone, NME 3,5 / 5, Uncut 4 / 5 stars ]

The Cure "4:13 Dream" (2008)

4:13 Dream
release date: Oct. 27, 2008
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]
producer: Robert Smith, Keith Uddin
label: Geffen Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "The Only One" - 4. "Freakshow" - 6. "Real Snow White" - 8. "Switch"

13th studio album by The Cure. After O'Donnell and Bamonte was fired in 2005 the band toured as a trio with Robert Smith, Simon Gallup and Jason Cooper, but later in 2005 Porl Thompson rejoined the band. Another four years under its way, it's hard to see much progression from its predecessor The Cure (2004). I only find it an even more obvious mission for the band to thread the same steps like Franz Ferdinand ('Freakshow'), Bloc Party ('Switch') or other contemporary artists of post-punk revival wave. Unfortunately, the album turns out as yet another mediocre album from Robert Smith & Co, and by 2014 this has been the last studio album from the band, meaning no other album cam out in 2012. On the band members list it has also been in and out like it has for many years. O'Donnell and Tolhurst both have toured with the band, and Thompson on the other hand has announced no wish to continue in the band. Reeves Gabrels, famous guitarist in various art rock bands including Tin Machine and other work with David Bowie has toured and played in The Cure. Concerning new material, rumor has it that a new album is on its way, although, it has also been proclaimed that it would be outtakes from this album, which initially had been intended as a double album.
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Far Out Corporation "FOC" (1998)

FOC [debut]

release date: Oct. 26, 1998

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]

producer: Tim Whitten & The FOC

label: Polydor - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Don't Blame the Beam" - 4. "Montreal" - 6. "If You Want Release" - 9. "Suicide at Home" - 10. "Parachute"

Studio debut and only album by side-project band The Far Out Corporation consisting of vocalist & guitarist Grant McLennan (The Go-Betweens), guitarist & vocalist Ian Haug (Powderfinger), bassist Adele Pickvance (Natives of Bedlam, later in Dave Graney Show, later member of The Go-Betweens), and drummer Ross MacLennan. Apparently, Grant McLennan had been asked to provide some ambient music for an art project event in early '98 after which he gathered a band that could perform the music live, which then led to the idea to produce an album.

Stylewise, this is far from McLennan solo and / or The Go-Betweens - and it basically sounds more like something his bandmate Steve Kilbey from Jack Frost could have been involved in, which is also reflected in Grant's singing style (listen to "Montreal"). It's touching on neo-psychelia but may be characterised as art pop blending inspiration from an alt. rock / art rock sphere (Australian alternative rock band Underground Lovers being inspired by The Velvet Underground) with bonds to earlier classic synthpop (Depeche Mode meets New Order). The band played some gigs after the release but as The Go-Betweens was reformed in '99 the project was abandoned.

It's not entirely bad, and then on the other hand, it doesn't deliver something remarkably unforgettable. Most of all it shows McLennans artistry, and although all songs are credited all band members it seems likely that Mclennan - who started the project - wrote the lyrics, and especially the song "Suicide at Home" made Robert Forster attentive on McLennan's mental state, which Forster in this period recalls as 'really bad'. Luckily, the two kept touring supported by Adele Pickvance, and when McLennan approached Forster about the idea of reforming the Go-Betweens he accepted, and in the Summer of '99 the two constituted the new band assisted by Pickvance, Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes.

Etta James "At Last!" (1960)

At Last! [debut]

release date: Nov. 15, 1960

format: cd (1999 remaster / vinyl (2018 reissue, blue vinyl)

[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,45]

producer: Phil Chess, Leonard Chess

label: Chess / MCA // WaxTime In Color - nationality: USA

Studio album debut by the 22 year old Etta James originally released on Argo Records. The original album was a ten-track album with a running time just above 29 minutes. The 2018 vinyl reissue (on WaxTime In Color) comes with the four bonus tracks that have been released with the album since 1999 when the first remastered 'expanded' edition came out on Chess / MCA, and it has a total running time just above 40 minutes.

This is such a wonderful and mindblowing debut. It's a must-have in any album collection.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 5 / 5, Pitchfork 9 / 10 stars ]

Bill Frisell "Good Dog, Happy Man" (1999)

Good Dog, Happy Man

release date: May 18, 1999

format: cd

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]

producer: Lee Townsend

label: Nonesuch - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Rain, Rain" - 2. "Roscoe" - 4. "My Buffalo Girl" - 5. "Shenandoah (For Johnny Smith)" - 7. "The Pioneers" - 8. "Cold, Cold Ground" - 11. "Good Dog, Happy Man" - 12. "Poem for Eva"

14th studio album by Bill Frisell following Gone, Just Like a Train (Jan. '98) is Frisell's second of eight consecutive albums with long-time producer Lee Townsend.

Stylewise, Frisell has been on a long and twining progression in shaping that highly personal sound of his, and for me, this is when he first comes out the cleanest. He combines and bonds with other genres and styles and you'll notice elements from jazz, blues, americana, country and folk, and what appeals the most to me, is the absence of jazz fusion or the bold traits of rock fusion of the 1970s and 80s. Many will probably associate Frisell with artists like Pat Metheny, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea and others belonging to, and keeping alive, the heritage of the innovative Miles Davis and the ingenuity of Thelonius Monk. Exactly that may also be a starting point to his own orginal blend, but what I really enjoy, lies more in his ability to combine roots music - be it blues, jazz, or country folk with bits of americana and a tad more gentle approach that flows into something highly original - and that's basically all found on this one.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings 3,5 / 4 stars ]

Martha Wainwright "Come Home to Mama" (2012)

Come Home to Mama
release date: Oct. 16, 2012
format: cd (Deluxe Edition)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Yuka Honda
label: V2 - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "I Am Sorry" (live) - 2. "Can You Believe It" (4 / 5) - 4. "Proserpina" - 5. "Leave Behind" (live) - 8. "I Wanna Make an Arrest"

3rd studio album by Martha Wainwright following three years after her Piaf live album Sans fusils, ni souliers... (Nov. 2009) and 4½ years since her most recent studio album, the acclaimed I Know You're Married but I've Got Feelings Too (May 2008). The album is produced by Japanese-American artist Yuka Honda, who previously worked in the role of producer until 2000 for a limited number of artists, which also includes the debut album Into the Sun (1998) by Honda's then-boyfriend, Sean Lennon, and Wainwright's album here was apparently recorded in Sean Lennon's home studio. Sean Lennon plays bass on two of the standard album's ten tracks, and Honda is also credited on keyboards, synths and for drum programming on several tracks. The deluxe edition contains three demo recordings as bonus material.

The album is Martha's first since the passing of her mother Kate McGarrigle at the age of 63 in 2010, and several of the songs are said to be centered on the loss.

Come Home to Mama - whose title, by the way, is a line from the track "Prosperina" - is more the musically and stylistically natural extension to her most recent 2008 studio album, making it a more pure pop / rock, folk pop, and singer / songwriter release.

Aside from the song "Can You Believe It", the album doesn't offer definite hit material, but several quite fine compositions. Her 2008 album bore certain traces of inspiration from PJ Harvey, and here I think more of an influence from Kate Bush and / or Tori Amos that intrudes - and quite generally, I think it points to Wainwright's most evident artistic weakness. All of her albums seem to contain tracks that in some way show some form of admiration or inspiration from others - whether it's her parents' folk tradition, brother Rufus's puffed-up arrangements, or other role models' idiosyncrasies. And it both results in releases pointing in several directions (apart from her 2009 Edith Piaf live album), and at the same time takes the focus away from Wainwright's very own qualities. She's undoubtedly a skilled songwriter and she has a great voice, but her greatest gift has probably been to imitate anyone, and unfortunately, she still often falls into imitation rather than cultivating her own position.

Despite challenges, I think this album is her second best so far, and it's by no means uninteresting. The selected tracks here also show what she's capable of when she sounds most like herself.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

~ ~ ~

Note: A double CD tribute album Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle in honor of Kate McGarrigle was released Jun. 2013 featuring a wide range of artists including Loudon Wainwright III, Jane and Anna McGarrigle, Sloan Wainwright (Loudon's sister), Rufus and Martha Wainwright on live recordings from four tribute concerts over three years from the first in Jun. 2010 in London, two concerts in May 2011 from New York and the last in Jun. 2012 from Toronto. The album contains 34 tracks, most of which were written and composed by Kate McGarrigle.

The Cardigans "Super Extra Gravity" (2005)

Super Extra Gravity
release date: Oct. 14, 2005
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Tore Johansson
label: Stockholm Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Losing a Friend" - 2. "Godspell" - 5. "I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to Be Nicer"

6th and final studio album by The Cardigans. They haven't officially disbanded but haven't released new material for more than eight years. The band has kept to the same producer, the same record label, and the same songwriters over all their years playing together, but again their style has changed. They have moved away from the apparent American bonds on Long Gone Before Daylight (2003) to just play pop / rock or alt. rock with some resemblance to the style of PJ Harvey. I like this better, and frankly think that it's their best release since First Band on the Moon (1996).
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

The Divine Comedy "Bang Goes the Knighthood" (2010)

Bang Goes the Knighthood
release date: May 31, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Nel Hannon
label: Divine Comedy Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Down in the Street Below" - 3. "Neapolitan Girl" (acoustic session) - 5. "At the Indie Disco" (live) - 6. "Have You Ever Been in Love" - 7. "Assume the Perpendicular" - 8. "The Lost Art of Conversation" - 11. "Can You Stand Upon One Leg" - 12. "I Like" (4 / 5)

10th studio album by The Divine Comedy released on Hannon's newly-founded label, Divine Comedy records, UK.
This is another fine but somewhat superficial album. The melodies are fine, the lyrics also with the usual amount of irony and themes in place, but... he's just been there before. It's by no means a mediocre release, though.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Record Collector 4 / 5 stars ]

Björk "Biophilia" (2011)

Biophilia
release date: Oct. 7, 2011
format: cd (Deluxe)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,98]
producer: Björk
label: Polydor Records - nationality: Iceland

Track highlight: 3. "Crystalline" - 4. "Cosmogony"

7th studio album by Björk who is also credited as producer. Only one track is co-produced by the electronic duo 16bit (track #3), and for the first time around Björk is credited for a vast number of (electronic) instruments and as head of arrangements and the mixing process. The album follows more than four years after Volta (2007) and the album was launched as an "iPad-album", which meant that consumers were able to download the album in a 'Biophilia mother app' with all tracks as individual apps including both sound and vision.
With Biophilia, Björk once again takes decisive choices of sonic texture, which in this case takes her into ambient pop territory with several compositions held in a cappella mood and some with a clear presence of chamber pop and glitch pop - ultimately, making it her so far most experimental studio release.
As usual - one might add - the album was met by critical acclaim and several prize nominations. No hit singles was released with the album, although, it spawned four single releases (tracks #3, #4, #7, and #1). Only "Crystalline" and "Cosmogony" entered the Icelandic singles charts as number #12 and #23 respectively, and no other entries are registered around the world. The album peaked at number #4 in Iceland and in France, as number #9 in Switzerland, but apart from these top-10 entries the album was not a commercial success - basically making it her so far poorest selling studio album; however, music critics seemed to love it.
The album is a highly conceptual one, and may be regarded as Björk's take on environmental issues. After her 2007 album, she had fulfilled her contractual obligations and was in a position of artistic freedom, and free to produce whatever she felt like doing, and this together with her engagement with 'mother nature' as well as a deep financial crisis in all of Iceland gave her the idea to work on this project. You will also notice that she doesn't challenge her voice as on former releases - instead she sings steadily and softly on many of the tracks (some have been recorded earlier), presumably the result of having gone through surgery on her vocal cords. Thus, the album touches on progressive ambient. It's an album rich on sensations and it requires fully attention of the listener, as it also contains interesting details and ideas.
I never enjoyed this much, though, and I basically find it among her least favourable albums - with form over matter as a general complaint, although, one could argue that it may be viewed as a near modern classical work of art, and the idea of the project with music, video and a vision of 'biophilia' represented in all we touch and connect to is anything but mere pretentiousness. However, and knowing that it's a media transgressing release, I focus on the music aspect of the album, and I simply consider Biophilia her least interesting studio album. There you have it!
Not recommended.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, PopMatters 4 / 5, NME 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Shaun Ryder "Amateur Night in the Big Top" (2003)

original cover

Amateur Night in the Big Top [debut]

release date: Sep. 2, 2003

format: digital (2012 reissue)

[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]

producer: Pete Carroll, Stephen Mallinder, Shane Norton

label: Offworld Sounds - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "The Story" - 2. "Long Legs (Parts 1, 2, 3)" - 3. "Scooter Girl" - 6. "Northern Soul Brother (Shapeshifter)"

Studio solo debut album with the subtitle "Clowns and Pet Sounds" by Shaun Ryder [aka Shaun William George Ryder], or: a collaboration album credited 'Amateur Night in the Big Top' consisting of Shaun Ryder, Shane Norton, Pete Carroll, and Stephen Mallinder. Well, that's what it was originally; however, in 2012 the album was re-issued as Shaun Ryder's solo debut. Dunno about ownership rights but I do know this: being literally the [exact] same album, it should still reflect that, but it doesn't, and that's where ownership rights enters the big picture. Anyway, by the end of Happy Mondays' partecipation [which also happens to be the end of The Happy Mondays' second incarnation] in the "Big Day Out" festival tour of Australia in 2001, Ryder gathered up in a studio in Melbourne, Australia with Norton, Carroll and Mallinder, who composed, mixed and produced music to Ryder's semi-autobiographical lyrics, and within a week's time they were left with this, which was subsequently released on the small Australian label. When re-issued in 2012 it seems Ryder had gained the ownership rights to release it as his solo debut, although, he didn't regard it as a genuine attempt to make a solo effort.

It's not really in style with the music of Happy Mondays, nor that of Black Grape for that matter, which does suggest that Ryder wasn't really in control of the composing part. It's mainly an electronic and big beat-styled collection of songs with some neo-psychedelia to it. It's not all bad, but it does reflect some quick-mass-up-in-the-studio-recordings, and according to Ryder and his recollection of the recordings as described in his auto-biography "Twisting My Mellon" he was having a bad time, wasn't up for new studio sessions, and mostly was heavily influenced by his substance abuse, which he thinks is quite obvious when listening to the album.

It's too bad, Ryder was down and out while babbling along 'cause fact is, he is a gifted narrator, but it does at times remind you of similar destinies in the music industry.

Not all bad, but somewhat unfocused and somewhat tedious after the first three tracks.

Not recommended.

2012 reissue

The Vaccines "Combat Sports" (2018)

Combat Sports
release date: Mar. 30, 2018
format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Ross Orton
label: Columbia Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Put It on a T-Shirt" (live session) - 2. "I Can't Quit" - 3. "Your Love Is My Favourite Band" (live session) - 4. "Surfing in the Sky"

4th studio album by The Vaccines, who has changed its line-up since the successor English Graffiti (2015). Drummer Pete Robertson left the band in June 2016 and was subsequently replaced by Yoann Intonti - initially, only to full-fill live concert obligations but when the band initiated studio work on the new album, they announced that not only had Intonti become a steady member, but also touring keyboardist Timothy Lanham had by now been included in the band.

Musically, there's not much progression since the debut in 2011. The Vaccines play 'power pop' and 'indie pop' in the lighter end of 'alt. rock', and they base most of their songs on memorable hooks and quick chorus-lines. In that respect, the album doesn't provide us with anything new. Yeah, they play well, they compose their songs within their sphere, but frankly, it's becoming increasingly harder to distinguish their albums from one another - and a wee bit tedious. Several tracks sound like spin-offs or new versions of familiar songs making it a bit annoying.

"A new album by The Vaccines, you say?... Yeah, well, I dunno... It doesn't really ring any bells."

People may play it at a party and no one really pay any attention, wonders or asks for more. So what's the point if they just reproduce the formula note by note? Let's say, they'll try this a fifth time... I will not bother but for now, I concede this only above 3, but please, guys, don't drag us through the same one more time...

Not recommended.

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, NME, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]