I found Mirage used the other day for 5 bucks so I figured what the hell, and picked it up. I've been wanting Hold Me on CD for a while so I'm glad I got a chance to get it cheap.
The only thing that sucks is that I think it's the only Mac CD I've bought so far (out of Future Games, Mystery, Bare Trees, The Dance, Tusk) that I don't really care for.
I hate "singles albums" that have a couple hits and then a bunch of filler. It's not without merit though. "Love In Store" although lightweight, is a pleasant enough melody and catchy. "Can't Go Back" is a nice song from Lindsey and his only good one on the album. "That's Alright" is nothing spectacular but once again, inoffensive and easy on the ears. The dreamy "Only Over You" took getting used to but I love it now. "Gypsy" which I always thought was just OK, sounds great next to these lesser tracks.
Side 2 (which I imagine starts with track 7) is just a mess. The koto parts on "Empire State" are interesting but they don't salvage an otherwise bland track. "Straight Back" sounds really lazy, like they didn't give a **** what it came out sounding like. "Oh Diane" I absolutely can't stand, and is the only downright bad track on the album although the intro to "Eyes Of The World" is just as much, if not more irritating. "Wish You Were Here" is just OK and for some reasons reminds me of "Silver Springs". I think it has some identical chord progressions. At least it has the glorious single "Hold Me" which reaches out like a ray of sunshine after the last two nap time tracks. Oh I forgot all about "Book Of Love!" There's probably a good reason for it.
In polls this album always seems to be rated so highly and I'm just not getting into it. On the Penguin poll at least, it's rated above the excellent Mystery To Me and Bare Trees which totally stymes me. It just sounds uninspired and dull (theres no rock to this rock and roll), and I'm majorly bummed about it because I thought it would be as consistantly pleasing as the other albums I bought. Maybe I should make my next purchase Rumors so I can say the next Mac CD I bought was a great one! LOL
But what do you guys think? I know this site is mainly comprised of Mac obsessives so I'm prepared to get reamed out here.
There's gotta be someone else who feels the same way.