To my mind a good chunk of the music presented here is boring, mid-tempo rock intended for genteel middle class Americans. The burning angst and heartfelt sentiment that propelled the duo's first two records is lost along with almost all of the synthesizers and drum machines. I can imagine many of these songs being played by a half sozzled pianist in a cocktail bar to an audience of precisely zero people.
I concede I may have been too harsh in what I just said and in the interests of balance I am happy to state that the title track is brilliant. Whilst "Woman In Chains" was completely and utterly the wrong choice for the opening track, it is a very good song. The single "Advice for the Young at Heart" creeps above the threshold even if it is too long.
Everything else is skippable. Eight and a half minutes of mid-tempo rock ("Badman's Song")? No thank you. Tuneless piano tinkling and horrific backing vocals ("Standing on the corner of the third world") I can do without. Even the surprisingly schizophrenic final song "Famous Last Words" is boring. Some might say it is too simplistic to say these issues are as a result of replacing Ian Stanley as both keyboard player and songwriter; but it's where my suspicion lies.
After the wonders of "Songs From The Big Chair" I felt completely let down by this album when it was released and that disappointment lingers to this day. Whilst my discontent didn't seem to stop me from buying this modern reissue of the LP back in 2020, it remains sealed. 2/5
