A quite divine experience (Regeneration - Divine Comedy)

Member Name: Sean Archer

Product:	Regeneration - Divine Comedy
Date:	26/03/01 (13 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful songs; intelligent lyrics; wonderful musical moments

Disadvantages: Occasional lack of inspiration

For this, the Divine Comedy's seventh album, Neil Hannon has moved away from the opulence of 'Fin de Siecle' and 'Casanova', in favour of a more Radiohead-inspired sound. Instead of vast orchestrations, we now have guitar solos and what occasionally can be recognised as a 'rock song'. For all that, it is as quintessentially Divine Comedy as any of their other albums.
The first track, 'Timestretched', is an amusing little doodle on the nature of fame, a subject that would appear to need a slightly more in-depth examination, which comes next, on the mighty 'Bad Ambassador', which features the immortal lyric 'I'm not the Pope, and I don't want to be/ The Archbishop of Canterbury'. With sweeping strings, this is the most old-style DC track, along with the next one, the charming 'Perfect Lovesong'.
The mood darkens with 'Note to Self', which, unusually for the DC, is built around a single guitar riff. Not until the second chorus does the song erupt, but Hannon screaming 'What the f*** is happening' is a genuinely surprising moment first time round. 'Lost Property', the next track, is OK, but is overshadowed by 'Eye of the Needle', which is as lyrically complex as anything in the DC's repertoire.
A couple of fillers follow, pleasantly, called 'Love what you Do' and the gloomy 'Dumb it Down', until the magnificent 'Mastermind' reintroduces the quintessentially old-style DC orchestration and bitter, cynical lyrics, as Hannon attacks a society in which 'Every eye flies a dollar sign for me'. The album concludes with the terrific, apocalyptic 'Regeneration', and the witty satire on fashion, 'The Beauty Regime'.
Therefore, the Divine Comedy have done it once more, with this album deserving the chart success of their labelmates Radiohead as soon as possible.

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