I rate the album 7/10, which as I said previously is pretty weak compared to what he wrote in the past
I like several songs Laughs, Basil, Skydiver, Long Cool Girl, Taormina, Beryl
but the problem is that they are 'just' good songs, No superb song.
I do have hopes for the 7 extra songs, especially since Guy Fletcher called 'Terminal of Tribute to'
his favourite of the album. Let's see.
Same feeling here. Of course it is a MK album, so it can't sound bad. It will always be good to play on a Sunday afternoon when hosting family and friends.
BUT... on every MK album so far there was a song I fell in love with. Even on Shangri-La, which I don't like that much overall, there is "Postcards
from Paraguay" which was a killer for me; Same for Golden Heart, I was a bit disappointed, but there was the title song and Rudiger; STP and TRD had many killer songs for me; Get Lucky has Border and Piper which are masterpieces; and even the underrated (for me) KTGC had "Punish the Monkey" which most people find catachy. Here... there are songs I do like (Laughs, Basil, Long Cool Girl, Skydiver which yes is beatle-istic), but no song so far that I get obsessed with.
Mark is done, not only with long guitar solos, but also with musical complexity. I think his skills as a writer of such songs peaked with Making Movies (Tunnel of Love especially) and even more Love Over Gold (Telegraph Road mostly, probably the one song I will choose as #1 from all his career, although there are many others that come very close). The LOG album is the closest thing to a Pink Floyd album that Mark has done, on par with the mighty "Wish you were here". From Brothers in Arms onwards, Mark has focused on shorter, simpler songs. Very nice but not that complex.
The MM/LOG period is long gone, and it's too bad. Not to say I don't like the rest, I do like it a lot. But this was the cusp, at least for me.
