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Rating:
This album, ladies and gentlemen, is a little gem, the kind you despair over because the band that crafted it disbanded without being able to create more little gems like this one.
Reviewing track by track would be pointless and tedious, so I'll try to give you a general idea of why I hold this album in such high regard.
Compared to the previous "A Song To Ruin," there's a greater presence of arpeggios and more tranquil atmospheres (perhaps it's just my impression, but the beginning of "Margot Kidder" has a certain something reminiscent of Afterhours at their best moments), cleverly blended with more typically rock parts, which at times truly leave you breathless, all thanks to the new guitarist Tom Fowler.
"Harmony No Harmony" contains a skillful mix of purely hardcore segments and melodic arpeggios, heavily distorted guitars and softer acoustic chords, powerful bass lines and a never repetitive and highly inspired drum work.
As if that were not enough, a strong point of all the songs on this album is the lyrics by Frank Turner, which range from critiques of the alienating life of the modern world ("To Whom It May Concern"), to even urban-environmental criticism in "Carthago Est Delenda" (too bad that the original phrase by Cato wasn’t quite like that), to a satire of smokers, the magnificent "Achilles Lung," with a list of diseases that truly makes you want to quit smoking.
The album flows with utmost pleasure almost to the end, and only in the penultimate song "Engine Driver" is there a slight drop in quality, compensated by the splendid 2 minutes of the title track, a piece with just voice and acoustic guitar that truly closes this album with the utmost dignity, which, I repeat, is a real gem.
Equally important, this album has won (at least for me) the test of time. A year with it in my hands, and it's still one of the records I listen to most frequently.
Hoping I haven't bored you, I'll conclude with the score: 4 and a half, which I round down to 4 only because the 5 is overused.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
14 Harmony No Harmony (02:15)
When the last of the echoes fades,
when the cymbals and the strings have died away,
when I am left with just the ringing in my ears,
I take a breath and I settle down,
I try to count the things that really count,
to figure out what I’ve done with the last few years.
And after all the struggle and the strain,
and after all the loss for little gain,
the harmonies have faded away,
but the melody remains.
I grew up in the countryside – there I could have lived,
and I could have died,
I could have had running water and security.
But I took a train up to London town,
lost my money and immersed myself in sound – in lame jobs,
late nights, poor diets and poverty.
And after all the struggle and the strain,
and after all the loss for little gain,
the harmonies have faded away,
but the melody remains.
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