 |
Doves
The Last Broadcast
label: Heavenly
released: 04.29.02
our score: 3.0 out of 5.0
buy it: here
|
The difficult
second album, the terrible twos, the over-hyped follow-up. Whatever
you want to call this common and notorious condition, Doves have
been struck down with a bad dose.
The Last
Broadcast is the highly anticipated album intended to build
on the extraordinarily strong foundations cemented by Lost
Souls. But we were expecting too much. The Last Broadcast
is an uninspiring album that should cut short the critical hysteria
Doves created and leave the jury still out deliberating on whether
we are listening to a classic act.
On first listening,
the new album is dull, dirgey, emotionless and benefits from only
a couple of bright moments in a cloudy, confused setting. The
cover sums it up perfectly; showing the city plagued by a dark,
dull sky and the sun itself poking through-but only just. The
new single "There Goes The Fear" summed up the hype and anticipation
by entering the charts at number three (UK) when their previous
best had been number 32 with both "Catch The Sun" and "The Man
Who Told Everything." But there are also conclusions to be drawn
from the way it crashed to number 34 on Sunday.
To be fair
"There Goes The Fear" is the peak of the album, providing a pop-laden
moment complete with catchy chorus and a Latino drum finish. For
further listening check out the powerful and raw "N.Y." spouting
New York influenced lyrics and the titular "Last Broadcast," which
like "There Goes The Fear" provides memorable tune and guitars.
But coming after the promise of the Mercury Prize nominated Lost
Souls, I could not help but be disappointed by The Last
Broadcast.
And I did
give it chance.
I listened
to it through a good ten times before writing this review and
the second wave of worthwhile songs stood up and got counted but
they were still not numerous enough to merit the attention that
radio playlist makers may ensure this album gets.
"The Sulphur
Man" is of slight interest for the way it ambles Coldplay style,
and the finale of "Caught By The River" gets better with time
and its near gospel interludes. The most interesting track is
"M62 Song" which was recorded under the Northenden M62 flyover
at Manchester in an eccentric move that I thought only Bjork would
have thought of.
The popularity
of Doves has not started to wilt, their support shows with Travis
proving as strong as ever. But did fans expect more than has been
delivered? Rather greedily, I suspect the answer is yes.
28-Apr-2002 7:36 PM
If you
liked The Last Broadcast...
|
