Isn't it strange how opinions differ? Reading through other opinions and reviews of this album you'd think this to be the final nail in James' coffin! Not so. As an avid James fan of the past, ooo, 50 years that they've been together (they influenced The Beatles you know!) I was expecting the worst of this album to be honest. Being one of the few people who actually despised Millionaires (really good songs bogged down in slick over-layered production) I was expecting more of the same. But from the very beginning we have a completely new sound - something James have had the knack of doing from Day 1. While not always doing ...  Read the complete review

“It could have been a brilliant career.” But that would have been just a little bit too easy. Despite a run of hits in the early 90s and releasing two of the finest albums of that decade, ‘Seven’ and ‘Laid’ by 1998 James were all washed up with no where to go. A greatest hits album was released, a typical label reaction to an act going nowhere fast when something amazing happened. It sold. Not just a bit but millions of copies, all of a sudden people seemed to awaken from a coma and remember they liked James. They suddenly found themselves promoted from struggling also rans to stadium fillers. Come late 1999 and ...  Read the complete review

Now I've got to come clean here and admit I've never been a big fan of James. Sure I was aware of them, from the abomination that was "Sit Down" ( I must admit, to my eternal shame, I once did exactly as the song requested, on the dance floor of a student bar. In my defence I would say that everybody else was doing it, I'd had a few beers, it was a LONG time ago, did I mention I'd had a few beers?) thru various nondescript bland pop/rock compositions, the only note worthy song during this time being "Born of Frustration". So why did I buy this album? Two reasons really. Firstly their last album, ...  Read the complete review