| Here we have two Irish acts [the other act
was Dolores Keane - review not included here]
endeavouring to re-establish themselves after
absences from the frontline, to wit a reformed
and slimmed-down Hothouse Flowers, and Dolores
Keane reaching back to her trad roots. The
Flowers have been rightly lauded for their
soulful live gigs and castigated for the
paucity of their own material, the classic
'Don't Go' notwithstanding. But, apart from
the noisier guitars and less prominent keyboards,
it's generally business as before. Liam gives
it his all on a bunch of songs mostly devoid
of drama and which rarely climb above the
average, with the possible exceptions of
'Pop Song', 'At Last' and the recent single
"You Can Love Me Now'. The latter is
a feisty guitar-driven track and it opens
the score in triumphant style a la Waterboys.
It promises much, but little that follows
would justify many plaudits although 'Turn
Up the Reverb' should please Ocean Colour
Scene fans. 'Forever More' is like mid-period
U2 segueing into The Stones; 'Used To Call
It Love' is yet more U2-lite; and 'At Last'
builds on a hypnotic string figure based
(uncredited) on Paschelbel's Canon. It's
a fine commercial ballad that wouldn't go
amiss as a Boyzone single. 'I Believe' is
probably the most intriguing track, with
atmospheric percussion and guitars underpinning
Liam's warm vocals. Don't get me wrong, Born
is never so lame that it shouldn't have been
conceived, but it generally sounds so uninspired
and unadventurous that you wish better precautions
had been taken around the gestation period. |
