Review Summary: A Springfield fan will go through all the stages in the title after listening to the album.
It is difficult to say what motivated Rick Springfield to release his next LP
shock/denial/anger/acceptance in 2004. Not in relation to the year of release; on the contrary, it was time to show something to the world following his 5-year absence after lightweight and decent
Karma came out in 1999 (though there were longer gaps). The question is aimed at the approach chosen by the singer for recording, execution and the overall content of the album. Clearly, it was some kind of an experimental shift from the usual sound (pop-rock) to a heavier one (alternative rock with occasional metal elements), from the image of a romantic character to an aggressive and rugged realist, who experienced loss and disillusionment in relationships (highlighted by the title and topics brought up on the album, as well as some backstory, which can be learned from the artist interviews). The gut-wrenching vocals also reflect it. Moreover, during listening to the LP there is a strong sense of attempting to “jump on the bandwagon”, i.e. to follow the fashionable trend of the specific period (the early 2000s were characterized by the rise in popularity of post-grunge and alternative rock). Did these not so artistic (or, at least, not purely artistic) ambitions affect the released album? Let’s try to figure it out.
At first, the record doesn’t seem to constitute a cohesive whole: tracks are not tied together melodically, their order is practically random (sometimes you need to make a certain effort to readjust to a drastic change in mood of one song compared to the previous one), topical boundaries are also pretty much absent. Having said that there still is a unifying element, which is the approach to recording and sound. Good, if at times seemingly calculated and forced, guitars; polished and clean sound with some raw-sounding crinkles and scrapes that feel tacked on; in-your-face performances and heart-rending vocals – these elements are all present on most of the songs. Speaking of those, they can provide some food for thought themselves.
The typical cuts on the album follow the template of alternative rock and post-grunge (
Perfect,
I'll Make You Happy,
God Gave You to Everyone,
Idontwantanythingfromyou,
Jesus Saves,
Wasted,
Every Night I Wake Up Screaming). The songs occasionally recall those by
Three Days Grace and
Breaking Benjamin, as well as
Foo Fighters (the band we consciously separate), with the only difference being that they just rehash the same devices and elements: quiet-loud dynamics, moderate aggressiveness with more melodic sections, gut-wrenching vocals, simple but solid guitar work. However, some originality is indeed present. For instance,
Idontwantanythingfromyou includes orchestral arrangements, adding a degree of curiosity while listening. At the same time, in
Jesus Saves the orchestra is even more pronounced, serving as a linchpin for the whole song, but at the same time it resembles
Kashmir and, being far from the epicness of the
Led Zeppelin cut, feels like a parody.
Still, individual songs see Mr. Springfield return to the familiar pop-rock territory with a lot more success. For example,
Will I? leaves a good impression, despite its similarity to the
Blink-182 oeuvre. The beginning of
Beautiful You makes one think of yet another heavy cut, attempted by the restless musician, but the chorus pleasantly surprises – as we again meet Rick the pop-rock knight. To be honest, the song combines melody and aggressiveness so successfully, that you wish this formula had been used for the whole record. The same also distinguishes
My Depression, where verses include the elements of Latin rock and funk, and while choruses are run-of-the-mill alternative, this kind of strange hybrid makes the track stand out.
And finally there are some questionable surprises on the second side, the most pleasant being
Alien Virus, a bluesy song that breaks out from the general mood and direction of the album, but is still interesting in itself. The ballad
Angels of the Disappeared could have been better, if it wasn’t for Springfield’s hoarse vocals, which taint the placatory and tender guitar melody.
Eden and
Your Psychopathic Mother recall
Def Leppard, with the former of the
Slang period, the latter – of the classic one.
Your Psychopathic Mother is actually one of the more successful cuts in the alternative rock genre attempted by the singer, with a clearly-defined structure: dramatic, gradually accelerating verse, relaxed transition and a culminating chorus with its strong guitars. In general, the second side of the album mostly include the tracks, which are more lyrical and softer, compared to the first side.
In the end, we get a rather ambivalent result, inspired, as it was suggested earlier, by two circumstances. Firstly, it is the desire to please the wider audience, following the trends of the time. Secondly, personal negative factor, which together with the first one, explains the aggression and heaviness. In this area, the album humbly treads the paths laid out by other musicians, presenting quality but rather bland songs, lacking anything new and fresh. Nevertheless, the admirers of the genre might find it interesting, since it is professionally performed and recorded. As for the Springfield fans, they should not neglect the album. Despite the end result, the attempts to experiment and break the familiar grounds are commendable, particularly when luck doesn’t turn its back to the musician, who manages to find some freshness and originality.
