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Rating:
I find myself writing this review for one simple reason: I have loved the Stereophonics since the days of "Word Gets Around," through the perfection of "Performance & Cocktails," dreaming to the notes of "Just Enough Education To Perform," letting myself be carried away by the Country nuances of "You Gotta Go There To Come Back," up to "Language, Sex, Violence, Other?," an album that I have both loved and hated, alternating between great insights and much less successful pieces.
So I begin listening to this "Pull The Pin" with a bit of bitterness, a feeling that immediately softens slightly, but not too much, with "Soldiers Make Good Targets", a classic piece with which the Welsh usually open their albums, with its aggressive attack, distortions, dirtier and more aggressive guitar riff than ever, and Kelly's voice leading the game. Although it connects a lot to the previous work, in this piece you start to notice some small novelties especially concerning the work done for the guitars, a great solo at minute 3.20 where you notice a greater collaboration between Kelly and the other guitarist, now almost an integral part of the group, Adam Zindani. The second track is the one that made me jump, the one that confirmed that the trio is back, offering us a track that will kick ass live, "Pass The Buck". A very simple song from a technical point of view (the main guitar riff is A5 D5 G5 C5 A5) but it contains a truly explosive charge especially in the finale when Kelly's scream (the shadow of Oasis is close) overwhelms us with a noteworthy power. We proceed with the ballad "It Means Nothing" where we find nothing new, but that does not mean we shouldn't let ourselves be lulled by that warm and enveloping voice capable of conveying emotions. So we arrive at "Bank Holiday Monday", the first single extracted, which has already been much talked about. A good rock piece, nothing more, especially related to what awaits us.
"Daisy Lane", simply a masterpiece, a song that manages to provide cascades of emotion, intimate, enveloping, delicate, maybe even too much when it leads to a seemingly senseless paparapara papapa but of stunning beauty. We thus find ourselves in the heart of the album perfectly supported by Stone, with a very catchy and beautiful chorus that is not banal; indeed, almost epic, from "My Friends", very unique, with very rockish sounds and a strangely cold voice (as much as Mr. Jones's voice can be), and from "I Could Lose Ya", again a great straightforward rock piece. Skipping "Bright Red Star", not even a bad piece of just voice and guitar that would have been perfect for the frontman's solo project, and I can't understand why it's here, we reach the final trio, "Lady Luck," "Crush" and "Drowning". The first is really a nice piece that I would link as a genre to Stone, very deep, almost a scream of despair in the chorus accompanied by a guitar riff that enhances its agony. The second is a classic rock song (it seems like a second Pass The Buck) that ends in a more than appreciable chorus. The show concludes with "Drowning" which closes the album worthily.
In conclusion, I can only praise this work which, as a whole, does not present any noteworthy declines but, on the other hand, manages to give us moments of great music that the Stereophonics manage to season with a class that has always distinguished them.
And the bitterness has completely dissolved...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Soldiers Make Good Targets (04:37)
What kind of pace are we living now?
Watching wars live, via satellite
You carry a gun but no smoking inside
Escape disease yet I could get shot tonight
You
Shoot
You
Lose
The time has come and you're all alone
And you know you're not dreaming
It's heaven's door, you're ringing on the bell
Will they let you in, or you going to hell?
I'll take a war, I'll take mine with fries
Medium rare, wash a coke down with ice
Swallow it down no time to digest
What do you know, I'm feeling hungry again
You
Shoot
You
Loose
The time has come and you're all alone
And you know you're not dreaming
It's heaven's door, you're ringing on the bell
Will they let you in, or you going to hell?
03 It Means Nothing (03:48)
Did we lose ourselves again?
Did we take in what’s been said?
Did we take the time to be,
all the things we said we’d be?
So we bury hopes in sand
And my future’s in my hands
It means nothing
It means nothing
You can find yourself apart
But you leave in which one you want
Cause they love you all the same
They just go by different names
Did you fly your flag today?
Are you proud or just ashamed?
It means nothing
It means nothing
It means nothing
It means nothing
It means nothing
If I haven’t got you
If I haven’t got you
If I haven’t got you
If I haven’t got you
The sun sets in the sky
You’re the apple of my eye
If the bomb goes off again
Blows my brain around the train
And I hope that I’m with you
Cause I wouldn’t know what to do
It means nothing
It means nothing
It means nothing
It means nothing
It means nothing
If I haven’t got you
If I haven’t got you
If I haven’t got you
If I haven’t got you
06 Stone (04:17)
I don't know why I let you go
You said you'd wait I said I'd hope you would
We talked 'til late until we walked away
What's meant to be will be the same
And I feel like stone
Yes I feel ice cold
I pick myself up from the ground
Sick to death of lying down
And now I have to find you once again
You're in my soul
You're in my mind
But I don't know where you are now
You're in my soul
You're in my mind
But I don't know where you are now
Driving round and round until its dawn
To look for you in rooms we used to go
I held you back, I had to set you free
But now I know what's meant to be
And I feel like stone
Yes I feel ice cold
I pick myself up from the ground
Sick to death of lying down
And now I have to find you once again
You're in my soul
You're in my mind
But I don't know where you are now
You're in my soul
You're in my mind
But I don't know where you are now
You're in my soul
You're in my mind
But I don't know where you are now
You're in my soul
You're in my mind
But I don't know where you are now
07 My Friends (03:35)
Stop tap drink back eye on you
You're out to find that something new
Am i the fly you want trapped in your web
I've seen that look a thousand times
Your innocence can make you blind
I can show you round a block or two
Let me introduce you to my friends
Let me buy you things, let me in your head
Let us fly away let this never end
My friend
My friend
Kick back think back look at you
You got the look you got the shoes
I'd like to fill your world and be with you
Your lust for life just turns me on
A star above that's shining on
Think i'd like to see the world like you
Let me introduce you to my friends
Let me buy you things, let me in your head
Let us fly away let this never end
My friend
My friend
Let me introduce you to my friends
Let me buy you things, let me in your head
Let us fly away let this never end
My friend
My friend
10 Lady Luck (03:45)
We're falling now, can't make it stop
Our arms are open for the thing we want
But what we want just can't have
What could've been but the timing's bad
Don't cry cry baby now
You're my my Lady Luck
We follow the signs to make us meet
Into the night, to places no-one sees
I never learned from looking back
You picked me up from off my back
But now it seems our time has passed
Don't cry cry baby now
You're my my Lady Luck
You picked me up right off my back
I'd fallen down you brought me up
We shared the night until the morning comes to take us back
Away to where
We chose to belong
And maybe we're wrong, but we gotta be strong
There's too much to lose
And maybe we're fools, who knows? Who knows? Who knows?
Who knows? Who knows?
We follow the signs to make us meet
Into the night, to places no-one sees
11 Crush (03:56)
We swapped our lines late last night then
We started talking truths til noon
Yeah noon
We fantasize of kidnap tie me up and tease me in your boots
Yeah you
I like to feel the crush it makes me feel alive
To have you in my life, than not it just feels right
And when the sun goes down the moonlight paints the night
That's when the sleeping dog awakes and comes alive
I like to fight for the right to light up a cigarette for you
Boo hoo
Although the timing's not right, my head spins around and round for you
Yeah you
I like to feel the crush it makes me feel alive
To have you in my life, than not it just feels right
And when the sun goes down the moonlight paints the night
That's when the sleeping dog awakes and comes alive
Come back now
Come back now
Come back and stay
Don't ever go
Don't ever go
It's alright, it's alright it makes me feel alive
To have you in my life, than not it just feels right
I'm alive
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Other reviews
By GrantNicholas
Kelly Jones’ Stereophonics deserve it, fully and convincingly.
"It Means Nothing" is a languid ballad, where Kelly’s unmistakable voice dominates before exploding in a yelled, emotional, and visceral final.
