Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 12/18/2006
Once again working with producer
Dave Eringa,
Idlewild offer what is perhaps their most accessible, radio-friendly album their fifth time out. While their previous effort
Warnings/Promises had its moments, it was burdened by a certain inert sludginess and anemic pacing.
Make Another World clears the air from the get-go with a chugging trio of rockers
"In Competition for the Worst Time," "Everything (As It Moves)," and
"No Emotion." All three of these tracks would be first-rate choices for singles, but the entire album seems ripe for the plucking. Frontman
Roddy Woomble's jones for
R.E.M. crops up repeatedly, particularly in the title track with its heavy
Green-era influences, in the chime and jangle of
"Future Works," and
"Once in Your Life," which is a melodic dead-ringer for
Michael Stipe and company's
"Country Feedback." Mining late-'80s and early-'90s
R.E.M. is definitely not a bad thing, as
Woomble's accent sits nicely amid the
R.E.M.-isms. Just to make it clear that
Idlewild is back to its rocking roots, the album even closes with its quickest song; one where
Woomble's affects his greatest-ever
Stipe impersonation in its chorus. Some criticism could be leveled at
Eringa's gruff, aggressive production, which frequently piles on too many guitar effects and distortion that drowns out melodies and pushes
Woomble to the background. Surely if
Woomble lingered more in the safe, pretty balladry of countryman
Gary Lightbody's
Snow Patrol,
Idlewild would be soundtracking sappy television hospital dramas and shifting millions more units. And
Woomble is more than capable of delivering fine
ballads, as evidenced by his fine 2006 solo effort.
Make Another World isn't so much a return to form as it is another solid and accomplished but not overly memorable effort from a talented but critically marginalized band.
~Tim DiGravina, All Music Guide
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