Thursday, October 28, 2010

Record of the Month

I figured I'd do a monthly 'what I'm listening to' kind of thing. This could be viewed as a lame placeholder kind of post. And probably it is. But it's my blog! So there!
I hate to say it, but I'm largely unimpressed with Intriguer, the new disk by Crowded House.

One way I know I am, is that I've owned it since July, haven't written about it because I can't seem to sit through it in its entirety like I have most of their other disks.

Clearly Neil Finn is an extraordinary songwriter and I've thoroughly enjoyed the first four Crowded House albums. Even when he performs with his brother, Tim, or the relaunch of Crowded House with Time on Earth, those disks have a handful of decent songs.

I guess the same could be said for Intriguer, but on a lesser scale. I cannot quite put my finger on it but something isn't clicking. Maybe it's them, perhaps it's me. Gone is the place where art and whimsy meet and you're just left with nicely crafted songs that don't seem to have that spark.

On their last disk, I cited that declining spark to the loss of a original member, but I don't think that's it. I think it is just changes over time, for my tastes and Finn's direction that he's opted to go in. If it works for him - great. It's just not working for me.

It's all very listenable, but not a must-have group for me anymore. Yeah, it's more inventive than most of the crud out there on the radio, but this isn't making radio - even satellite.

Unless you're a huge fan, which I thought I was, Intriguer is probably not for you.

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