release date: Oct. 9, 2000
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: Jon Kelly, Paul Heaton
label: Go! Discs / Mercury - nationality: England, UK
7th studio album by The Beautiful South is the band's studio release with the most tracks - 19 on the original release (the US release contains 17 tracks), which also comes in a 2-disc version with 20 tracks. This is the last album to feature Jacqui Abbott on vocals.
The style hasn't changed - in fact the band hasn't made much progress since the beginnings in regards to adding new styles and / or genres to the band's initial style. Only change is the addition of country elements with Blue Is the Colour from 1996. Heaton and Rotheray are as always songwriters and composers but there are simply no true remarkable tracks on this to satisfy a need to buy this album, imho. If the '98 album Quench was a bit of a step down from previous releases, this one is yet another step down, and to me, this is only above the mediocre and a first low point in the band's long career.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]
