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Rating:
The second effort by Craig Nicholls' Aussie Rock Band is full of musical clichés and lacking in ideas.
A rhythm guitarist has joined the original trio to enrich the Vines' sound, but one is led to believe that this happened more to mask the enormous artistic shortcomings of the group than anything else (see the absurd live performances "All Over the World" in the last two years).
“Ride”, the single that launches the album, is a mix of theft from Cobain and company, "popified" by clapping in time and stuffed with the inexplicable reinsertion of a riff already present in the first album “Highly Evolved” (the initial one from "Ain’t No Room," to be precise)! By changing just a little of the piece's rhythm and placing the accents right, one can easily end up humming “Dive with meeeeeee” from "Incesticide".
Analyzing all the songs would be an enormous drag, but overall, one can say that the album only raises its head during the slower moments: "Autumn Shade II", the track that gives the album its title, and "Sun Child" (which is, moreover, a B-Side from one of their singles from 2002...) are genuinely good Pop-McCartney-Ballads, complete with rhythm changes and catchy melodies, which, however, do not quite convince one that they've spent their money well.
Unfortunately, the album is filled with inexplicable things, like the shapeless "Tv Pro," which alone can make one understand how, unfortunately, one can arrive at a second album already cooked.
The production of each track is deficient in something, and with the excuse of wanting to make a more psychedelic album, the anger, power, and explosiveness that had driven the debut album are missing, which, all things considered, remains a good album. Always by today's musical standards...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Ride (02:36)
That's the start the middle and the end
Aren't you glad the universe pretend
If I don't get this message (home)
Once again, I'm gonna hate alone
Ride with me (x6)
Bored aloud ignored the right to be
Invite me down because we like to see
The colors through your loaded mind
Fuck the world and liberate our time
Ride with me (x6)
I'm not waiting a long life
I'm not waiting alone...
Ride with me (x6)
02 Animal Machine (03:28)
I'm lookin' down by the streets end
Girl you've been lacking a pretense
So save your money for the weak you're gonna kill
'Cause I got something that the company know how to feel
I'm lookin' down by the streets end
Girl you've been lacking a pretense
There can't be anything between
It's automatic over me
Shoot like an animal machine
Straight from the colours of her dream
Colours of her dream
I'm lookin' over the deep end
Time ain't a reason or defense
FLY from a tree to a seabed
Meanwhile, you'll be locked in a freezer
There can't be anything between
It's automatic over me
Shoot like an animal machine
Straight from the colors of her dream
Colors of her dream
Shoot like an animal machine
Straight from the colors of her dream
Straight from the colors of her dream
Colors of her dream (x4)
03 TV Pro (03:47)
See the late night talk show guest professional
A movie star and some kind of telectual
Ohhh
He's a she cause she's got more obsessional
Cause whenever I get uptight know you will
Ohhh
La la la la...
See the late night talk show guest I guess you will
A movie star is some kind telectual
WHO HA!
Ohhhh
La la la la...
05 Evil Town (03:06)
Evil is what you are
As well as being sharp
I fell right to it
She sells and I don't
Like it feels
Like Shonen Knife and Kills
But they don't mind in an evil town
Evil is what you are
As well as being sharp
I fuckin' feel to it
I'm in an evil town
06 Winning Days (03:33)
The winning days are gone
Because I know just where I'm seeing
Was given eyes I know
I can hear
Cause underneath there's gold
I need to get around to find it
And when I want to go
I can dream
I've been trying
All my time
I'm just seeing it rise
Cause it could be the land that's over me
So I just wanna let it breathe
The winning days are gone
Because I know just where I'm seeing
Was given eyes I know
I can hear
Cause underneath there's gold
I need to get around to find it
And when I want to go
I can dream
I've been trying
All my time
I'm just seeing it rise
Cause it could be the land that's over me
So I just wanna let it breathe for now
Get up and go outside
It can help your mind too
Get up don't hide away
Cause I know where they go
I've seen you down when I was flying
I'm sinking like a stone
I can't breathe
I've been trying...
09 Amnesia (04:41)
I cannot remember my own sanity
God's love ain't forever
He'll set us free
Ahh..
Thought I had to tell you,
We came from the breeze
But I don't care forever
I don't need a thing
Ahh...
I cannot remember
10 Sun Child (04:33)
Sun child
You're a sun child
Awoken by the spirit of the day
Will I grow wild
Speaking so mild
Forgot about the engine in the rain
Don't let it bring you down
For us that ain't the way
We'll keep our lives reserved
For those who have to pray
But I can't pray
Sun child
You're a sun child
Awoken by the spirit of the day
Will I grow wild
Speaking so mild
Forgot about the engine in the rain
Don't let it bring you down
For us that ain't the way
We'll keep our lives reserved
For those who have to pray
But I cant pray
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Other reviews
By charles
"'Ride,' the first single and opening track, features a very catchy initial riff that gets stuck in your head immediately."
"'TV Pro' is the classic angry Vines track, starting very quietly and then bursting into a distortion as heavy as it is captivating."
By ste84
Everything sounds dirty, rock, yet terribly melodic!
These guys seem to want to dare more: inserting pure Beatle-like elements in a context ruled by the shadow of Kurt & co.
