Title: One cure fits all review
This is a preliminary review, Based on about 6 or 7 listens through of the album.
————————————————————
When I heard Therapy? had brought in the helping hand of producer Pedro Ferreira(The Darkness, Tokyo Dragons), I had my doubts, I didn’t want my faviroute band turning all cock rock on us. Thankfully Therapy?’s 11th outing manages to keep faithful to the sound that the fans have stayed loyal to the last few years, but bringing in a cleaner sound that you last heard on High anxiety. ’
The opener on ‘One cure fits all’, ‘Sprung’, is one of the finest openers to a Therapy? album ever to grace our ears. To put it into context of what it sounds like, think A Joy division esque riff being led on a leash by ‘Unbeliever’, and your nearly there.
As the album ploughs on in typical T? fashion, the quality dips a little. While there is no doubt that ‘Deluded son’ and ‘Into the light’ are great tunes, they suffer the same fate that High anxiety went through, just being mere throw-away rock songs.
One thing that bothers me a little in the album, is that Neil’s excellent drumming is lost under the swathe of Andys Guitar, For example, at one point the guitars drown out the drumming.
A real strong point of the album comes in the form of Andys guitar playing and the intricate riffs that he produces. ‘Lose it all’ features an experimental mid section that would fit perfectly in ‘Troublegum’, while ‘Unconsoled’ brings in the trademark T? monster guitar riff in the chorus.
One of the low points in the album debuts at track six,’Dopamine, Seratonin, Adrenaline’. While the track features lyrics that are more than praiseworthy, and it features a welcome return of samples, the song ultimately sounds like a dated 80’s metal song, which should be left in the past(Take note Pedro). In all honesty the song is about as exciting as taking a dump in a Cardboard box*.
Well explored ideas and a car crash groove are included in ‘Our white noise’, an album highlight. While this is all well and good, the production strips the song of its’s potential energy. which is a shame because the song is so perfectly formed.
This leads me onto one of the few criticisms on the album. Pedro’s production: Therapy? sound so clean and lifeless on this album, and it almost veers towards the MOR stadium rock territory in some of the songs. This is a shame for me, as its predecessor highlighted the rough and dirty sound that T? are so good at. There are so many points on this album that could be built up into fist-pumping moments of rock and roll, but the production strips the album of this. Hopefully the songs will transcend better live.
The first release from the irish Noisemongers 11th opus is ‘Rain hits concrete’, which features the lyrics “Can you feel it” above a fantasticly infectious groove. The chorus lacks slightly, like many of the tracks off the album, but the juxtaposed Guitar and drums easily redeem it.
Did you like ‘Stand in line’? If so, the n ‘Fear of god’ will impress you immensley. A beast of a song that pulls you along by the neck taking no prisoners, sounding like Metallica if they were to lose their collective egos.
‘Hearbeat hits’ may not strike you as an album highlight on your first listen, but give it a chance and it shines, despite Andy’s vocals and lyrics being less than impressive. The song boasts an interesting insrumental section while Neil pounds his drums as if someone had just spilt his pint in his local.
The album closer ‘Walk through darkness’ includes an abundance of Major chords which sounds like a three way car crash between ‘Misery’, ‘30 seconds’ and ‘Watch you go’. This works well, unlike ‘Last one to heavens a loser’ as an album closer on NANE. I love great album closers, and this works so well on ‘One cure fits all’
As an album on a whole, it doesn’t stop for anyone, there is hardly a moment to take a breath. Its like a Roller coaster, it has its ups and downs, but It remains safe to the Therapy? sound. The production cuts away the energy that could have made the album something special, and the clean sound doesn’t really work as much as they would have liked. What works well is the diversity and experimentaion of the guitar work on the album, even if the production makes it sound like its been sprayed with ‘Cillit bang’.
The definitive T? record? No. But what did you expect? What you get is an album full of perfectly formed throwaway rock songs which you expect from the Irish rockers. Whether it will stand up to the test of time remians to be seen, but what I will say is that listening to NANE once again sounds positively refreshing.
A great album in many respects, but next time, ditch the dodgy album cover, and a producer not in touch with modern day rock music.
8/10.
*Not that I know what taking a dump in a box feels like, by the way.
————————————————————-
This is being swiftly deleted off my MP3 player, as I want to save the excitement of listening to ‘Sprung’ on my stereo system for April 24th.
Tell me what you think of the review!
