a horrible mastering job in the US, and a pretty dull album

Review Score: (4/10)
My title sums up my opinion. If you already know and love this album and you have the standard, US domestic cd, you should really seek out the version made in Europe. I don't know how Elektra ruined the master but the US cd sounds like an MP3 with a heavy compression ratio when compared with the sound of the European version. (Other US WEA pop cd's from European acts from around this period were similarly poorly mastered in the US.)

However, I can't much recommend this album to anyone but the biggest HoJo fan, and maybe even not to some of them. How a man who just a few years earlier was singing about not being brought down by the "doom crew" could end up writing such a thoroughly depressing album is beyond me. Some of these sad songs are enjoyable and some are embarrassing ("The Voices Are Back" has to be one of HoJo's worst ever) but taken as a whole this album just wears on the listener.

I don't know whether HoJo lost his major label affiliation or he decided he no longer wanted to be involved in big, corporate music. Either way, this album clearly signaled the change in Howard toward targeting a smaller audience.

More Reviews:

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