I'm still not thrilled with the verbosity of the first couple of lines but I've gotten used to this. Next up is the familiar (by now) The Last Refugee. It's a very "light" song, not much going for it musically with an opening percussive beat and piano chords similar to Bowie's Five Years which are the sole instruments for most of the song. Waters soothing vocals give way to him straining his voice into uncomfortable territory at times (he could never sing this live - and doesn't) and the song never really goes anywhere, as pretty as it is for most of the time. Picture That could have really been a scorcher, the highlight of the album. The lyrics are some of my favorites (Follow me filming myself at the show/On a phone from a seat in the very front row), raw, angry, a nearly 7-minute purge. My problem with the song is that the synch/keyboard in between vocals is to "light" for such a heavy song. If there was one track just begging for a rocking guitar it's this one. Think Sheep (which this song has been compared to). The final 2+ minutes of the song are wasted on a syncopated rhythm track and the same limp keyboards as the song refused to end gracefully. This one should have ended with a bang! One of the first instances where I couldn't understand a good deal of the lyrics because his voice was a bit buried in the mix.Ī coyote howls, Roger clears his throat and an acoustic guitar introduces Broken Bones. A very simple melody in 3/4 time supported by his guitar and some more lovely orchestration reminiscent of Southampton Dock from The Final Cut. The serenity of the song is twice interrupted by a brief bombastic chorus (aka Roger yelling again - and I can't understand a word he's saying). This is one that's growing on me a bit, I'll bet I'll like it even more once I know what the heck he's saying. The title track, Is This The Life We Really Want?, begins with some words from our current (cough, cough) president. Man, I wish he hadn't put this on the album, I hate hearing his voice. The track is a repetitious drone of keys/guitar/percussion with orchestral accents and flourishes where Roger is pretty much in spoken word mode. This would fit right in on Steven Wilson's solo debut, Insurgentes.
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