Not really ... I like To The Fire as much as I like a lot of the songs from Slippery. I'm not going to be able to review Slippery for another couple of weeks or so anyways, due to the CD being at home

Thanks Deb Glad some people are enjoying these reviews!


Secret Dreams – The final track on the album opens with a workmanlike solo guitar riff, before the intro gives way to a stabbing synth pattern backed up by rhythm guitar. The very first two lines: “Riding high / then shot down / I load my guns to fire another round” bring an end to the album’s obsession with weaponry. The lyrics here aren’t too bad, and are brought to life by the conviction that Jon sings them with; but there’s very little that stands out. Musically, the song is very repetitive: almost completely being covered by a very short riff for the verses; and a repetition of the synth section of the intro for the chorus. What is quite nice about it is the little sound effects that are all over it: tinkling synths in the chorus; rolling cymbals at one point; it does add to the song well. The guitar solo is decent enough, but sounds almost to be completely divorced from the song as a whole. Much better is the later breakdown before the final chorus: it provides the only moment of difference in an otherwise fairly one dimensional song. The song suffers from the problems that a few other songs on the album do: for one the pace is far too slow for a riff–heavy rock song; and for another the chorus comprises mainly of poorly recorded droning backing vocals. An unfortunately nondescript closing track for the album.

2+/5