The Feeling
Join With Us

THE REVIEW

Matching the one and a half million copies of the debut "Twelve Stops And Home" is quite a responsibility for the Feeling. The five from Sussex (Dan Gillespie Sells, Richard Jones, Kevin and Ciaran Jeremiah, Paul Stewart) try again with their second work "Join With Us," once again released on Island/Universal.

The album arrives less than two years after the successful debut and essentially reiterates the band's typical soft-rock sound, without neglecting some unexpected ventures here and there throughout the tracklist.

It should be noted immediately that the influence of Queen and Electric Light Orchestra is much less evident compared to the debut. Here, it starts off with an excellent number like the first single "I Thought It Was Over", a lively electropop track quite unusual compared to what the band had us hear in their first work. Prudently, the five ground themselves with the potential second single "Without You", with elegant guitars and a delicate piano accompanying Dan's always discreet voice. The title track is absolutely not to be missed, certainly their best song to date, which starts from a lively and catchy pop rock (closely comparable to their old hit "Fill My Little World") and ends in an increasingly hard and decisive crescendo, with incisive guitar riffs and a remarkable and spot-on solo. The more easy-pop tracks of the album, things like "Turn It Up" and "Won't Go Away" (the latter even featuring a trumpet), sometimes sound vaguely stereotyped, but the maintenance of enviable accessibility and underlying freshness is undeniable.

In the final part, unfortunately, the work gets a bit lost among (too) marked references to Travis ("Conor") and excessively sugary ballads ("This Time"). Notable and fun, however, is the ghost track "We Can Dance".

In short, this work by the Feeling is pleasant and smooth, it will not remain in the annals but can be enjoyed with pleasure.

Key tracks: "I Thought It Was Over", "Join With Us", "We Can Dance"