After having moderate success riding on the wave of the funk rock boom of the late eighties/early nineties (especially in the UK and Europe), Dan called it quits, shaved his head, and disappeared off the map. I was super sad as they wrote great tunes, were a killer live act, and Dan was a superb frontman.
This is the third album and the last studio album for nearly 25 years. I know there was a best of, a live album, and some little side projects – but that’s a long time between albums. To emphasize my point about writing great tunes, the opening song Baby Now I is a superb opener. It has a killer groove, beat, and one of those ear worm choruses that you can’t get out of your head. The heavy funk groove keeps a comin’ with Blame It On The Moon, and if you want to know where Max Martin got it all from – you need to hear this, a superb track. Mix It Up has an urban vibe (before that became a thing) and you definitely need your groove shoes on. The title track is next up and starts with a messed up Beatles style riff mixed up with the trademark funk rock groove – it works so well and a shout out to Brion James for a killer solo. Then the mood and vibe slows right down with the ballad Let It Go, before normal service is resumed With Love Don’t Work That Way with the return to funky town.
Sometimes covering an iconic track just doesn’t work, and that is the case here with their cover of Pink Floyd’s Money. Floyd’s version is so imprinted in my memory that any messing around with it is a no-no for me. Side 1 closes out with the unusual acoustic barroom blues of Chill Out. So if you’re counting, that’s 8 tracks on Side 1 and I think we could have jettisoned a couple of them. Life Is Sex brings back the funk and groove and we are back up and running. Ballad number two is next with The Salt Of Joy and it’s straight from the Bon Jovi book of ballads. Take My Hand would be best described as soft rock and it sort of feels lost. The Lonely Sun feels like a Dan Reed tribute to Led Zeppelin with the main riff of the song. Thy Will Be Done is one of my favourites on the record as the groove is killer, and I like the indie sounding guitars mixed with the usual Network sounds. Wake Up and Long Way To Go close out the album.
I would agree with the general assessment of the album that it’s the weakest of the first three. If they had culled some of the tracks (say by 4) then it would have flowed a lot better…but hindsight is a beautiful thing.
8.5/10 from The Grooveman.
