I found I liked this record a bit more than I thought I did when I revisited it after AMM came out. It's still nowhere near the classic albums, but overall it's somewhere in the middle of anything post-2000. Calling it a disappointment doesn't seem quite fair, because it did still end up being what we knew it was going in: a pretty simple record of the band testing the waters recording together after a long hiatus for most of the members. Plus, there are enough positive moments to yield some optimism. There are points where the band feels like they still have "it." Overall it's just okay, but I'm glad the record exists.
Knights of Malta is a pretty goofy song but it feels like it's sort of tongue in cheek? I liked it more after hearing it live in 2019. The woah-oh-oh's are pretty cringe, but I like the chorus and the solo is pretty unique. It's cringe, but I still don't see it as something I want to skip. 6/10
Silvery Sometimes is a great single and definitely worthy of the band. The melodies are really strong. Super catchy and I played it a ton when it was new. Doesn't quite have the huge chorus that blows you away, but each little part has a catchiness to it and it's just a really tightly written, well done song. 8.5 /10
Travels is a big missed opportunity, as others have said. The drums are infuriating. I remember some of the synth parts were played with guitar live, and it sounded SO much better with a guitar solo in place of the synth solo. It feels longer than it actually is, but I do get a very Pumpkins mood from it nonetheless, despite its flaws. It makes me feel something in the ballpark of Rhinoceros, but it's not nearly as good. 6/10
Solara is perhaps the worst of the chuggy rock songs they've made in the last 6 years. The energy it conjures feels very uneven to me. Right when the song starts going off, it pulls back and gets boring and just repeats itself. The bridge is pretty cool, but there's just something missing to push this one to the next level. It's a song that tries to feel like a big rock anthem, and it even kinda reminds me a bit of Bullet as far as SP singles goes, but that song has such infectious, memorable lyrics and vocal delivery that carries it through its various ebbs and flows, and Solara is pretty damn lame in that department. There's nothing holding the song together and turning it into more than the sum of its parts, so even though there are some likable parts to the song, it just doesn't get off the ground imo. Pretty solid live cut, tho. 4/10
Alienation improved the most in my eyes. I thought it was very cheesy and skippable when the album was new, but I like it more now. Maybe I just got used to the word salad? It does drag a bit; for some reason I thought this track was like 9 minutes long but uh, it's barely even 5? It still registers in my head as the "epic" song from Shiny. Cool solo, good drums, I like the guitar tones... but the whole thing just drags a bit. The vocals have a couple really cool moments but make it drag badly in others. 5/10
Marchin' On is rad as hell. I love the vocals. Its a great shot of energy later on in the album. The last minute is my favorite part of the entire album. Great track. 8.5/10
With Sympathy would make my top 5 post-2000 songs. Reminds me of some of the softer, mid-tempo tracks on Machina, which is a good thing imo. I would take it over something like "Try Try Try" for sure. Really strong vocals, warm melodies and instrumentals. It succeeds quite easily at being the type of song its trying to be. 9/10
Seek and You Will Destroy is pretty fun, but underwhelming as a closer. Cool things going on with the timing in the chorus and outro. Doesn't explore its ideas fully enough to be truly memorable though. 6.5/10
I can sort of imagine an album that has these songs, plus Edin, Pentagrams, and Sighommi, being really good. Replace Solara with Sicarus or War Dreams of itself.... maybe get 999 or Goeth the Fall on there, maybe spruce up Travels a bit, and it being a damn good album.
There have been plenty of times over the years where I revisit this and just listen to Silvery Sometimes and the last three and call it good. But it's brief enough that I can listen to it all without getting bored or turned off by any of the weak points.
