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Track by Track Review
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Always Stepping into the Fray
This starts with keyboards, and that instrument plays a prominent role in the arrangement of the song. The vocals bring a real new-wave kind of vibe to this. In some ways the music fits that, too. While the keyboards are prominent throughout, the guitar gets a chance to shine, too. |
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Everything Under the Sun While the keyboards featured prominently in the opener, they really are just about the only musical factor on this piece. And, as that one felt like new-wave music quite a bit, this is even more dominated by that sound. It’s energized and rather catchy. |
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Inside Outside Still nestled in the same basic musical territory, this one has a lot more guitar presence. It makes me think of The Cure a bit at times. It’s also one of the more effective pieces here. There is some real charm and magic on hand here. |
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Such a Fine Time On the one hand, I really like some of the keyboard melodies here. This song is driven heavily by the keyboards. The problem is, the keyboard voicing on this really comes across as cheesy a lot times. It sounds a bit like an old PC simulator. That’s a shame because in a lot of ways this is the best song here. It’s got some of the best melodies. Yet, that lousy voicing choice becomes a real distraction. |
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Secret Weapons This is harder rocking. It’s also the strangest thing on the disc. It’s jarring in its artistic construction. Yet, it also feels a little awkward. There is something unsettling about this, but also something captivating. |
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Monster Monster This is arguably my favorite song here. It’s energized. The keyboards that dominate have a good sound. The vocal arrangement is the strongest here. It’s a great song, really. |
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The Tales of the Broken Hearted The multiple layers of vocals on this are a nice touch. Beyond that, though, the production feels a bit cheesy, and the song just doesn’t have enough variety to stand out. I do like the keyboards at points, though. |
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Undercover Although some of the guitar on this stands out (and makes me think of the Cure again), overall this song is just too much like the rest. It doesn’t manage to stand out. |
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That Ship Has Sailed There are some things that work reasonably well here. The formula is really running out of gas, though. Also, the production on this one seems particularly lacking. |
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Always Never With a lot of energy and some poignant lyrics, this song manages to rise beyond the sea of similar sounds and stand out from the pack. That makes it a great choice to close things. When you add in the lush keyboard sounds later, it’s one of the better tracks on the set. The vocals hooks are really catchy, too. |
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