Doomsday Clock - starts off promising and Bill's vocals just sound half-assed with no power to them. The whole track lacks conviction; it's like someone trying to punch you with a limp fist. That's how most of the album feels and it hurts nearly every damn track.
7 Shades - No real problems with it apart from the fact that the whole record's produced like shit and keeps it from having the punch it almost does; see above. It's MCIS lite basically.
Bleeding The Orchid - that FUCKING BILLY CHORUS WHAT WERE YOU THINKING. Bad vocals again. A fucking shame because the song was kinda promising.
That's The Way (My Love Is) - One of the album's better moments. Gotta love that solo.
Tarantula - Has balls. Not bad. Fucking Corgan Chorus again though.
Starz - Cringeworthy goddamned chorus which really highlights the soon-to-be-worsening problems with Bill's vocal delivery. We - a - staz. We-aaaa.
United States - Kicks ass. The thing that really gets me is how much better this whole fucking thing could have sounded.
Death From Above - Should only exist in the IAGW piano format which feels way more earnest. The comparisons to a flying robot cartoon theme song have been made and they're spot-on.
Bring The Light - Repetitive as all fuck
Come On (Let's Go) - Just forgettable. Meanders and doesn't go anywhere. And I just realized I was actually thinking of For God And Country when I was typing this. So fuck that song too. Ah well, I guess I kinda like the little buildup section.
Neverlost - Personal huge favorite of mine actually.
Stellar - Why was this NOT on the damn album? "The wait hurts worse than the blows" is a fucking great line. The song's heartfelt.
Ma Belle - Feel basically the same about this one. It's actually moving, like a proper SP song should be. The whole thing just takes me away. These two tracks have more emotion than 95% of the record they should be attached to.
Pomp and Circumstances - I just can't take Bill's vocals on this one. It's horrendous, incessant, and grating to the point of making my damn ears eache. Why the fuck wasn't Zeitgeist (track) the album closer instead? Well, it is on my playlist.
It doesn't sound particularly dated to my ears, and I don't hate the album. It's just...lacking. Half-decent and could be way, way better. Most of what come after it just cast it in a way better light.
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