Absolutely loved their album "Pretty. Odd." from 2008, and so did America, pushing it to #2 on the Billboard Top 200. It was on the strength of that record that I purchased "Vices & Virtues" without hesitation. What I got was about half of what I'd hoped for. Hell, if I had known that I was only getting half the band that made "Pretty Odd" (I'm really over the various punctuation marks...give it a rest, kids), I wouldn't have been so quick to add the new record to my cart. The half I did receive was the adventurous Beatlesque elements that made "PO" so wonderful, but they were only used to draw me in, and then the predictable power pop crap that's strewn all over radio today finished up. Where I anticipated an enlightened improvement, I got a watered down blend of albums one and two.
Ah, I guess it's not that bad. I like blends when it comes to my wine, but one hardly ever
WOWS. Same goes for "V&V." It has enough hooks to make you
la la la into acceptance, but I don't want another bottle, either. It does finish well (ooh, another wine term) as the final two tracks are the albums highlights, showing the maturity and variety I had expected.
Soooooooo, I guess I'll keep it, but I won't jump so fast on the next release.
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