Domino |
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Released: November 9, 1998 Peak: -- US, -- UK Sales (in millions): -- Genre: new wave |
Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time]
Songs written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook. Total Running Time: 47:06 The Players:
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Rating:  2.795 out of 5.00 (average of 15 ratings)
Quotable: ”Sounds workmanlike, not like the work of craftsmen” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide |
About the Album: ”If in the kingdom of the pop ballad the chorus still reigns supreme, then Squeeze is sitting pretty in the pleasure palace. Despite being largely a cult success since the late '70s, the band hasn't lost its sense of fun or sacrificed its style in the face of the electronic revolution.” HE ”Since their second album, Squeeze's strength was the craftsmanship of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook. Early in their career, they began perfecting pop songwriting, and even after the hits stopped coming in 1987, they were extraordinarily reliable, contributing a handful of memorable, sophisticated pop gems on each album.” AMG ”Perhaps such a consistent track record meant that they were due for a dud like…Domino. All the familiar elements are in place, but nothing really clicks – the melodies never grab hold, the performances are rote, the record sounds flat.” AMG ”Glenn Tilbrook's voice belies his age and still has the same home-grown tinge to it, occasionally doubled with the trademark octave vocals to hammer home the chorus hook,” HE but ”there's an overall sense that with the encroaching years that the pace of the band-members' lives has slowed.” HE ”Domino sounds workmanlike, not like the work of craftsmen. It's a dogged, predictable album without any of the small musical or lyrical flourishes that have graced every other Squeeze album. It feels rushed, as if they had to turn out an album instead of wanting to record one – which is quite strange, considering it's the first album they've recorded for their own label. No doubt Domino is just a slump…it's a disappointment, nevertheless.” AMG ”Hints of mature crises appear, such as in To Be a Dad (‘I went to the cleaners / And came back with my life’).” HEHowever, that’s pretty much it. Only Play On and the title track come anywhere close to being memorable, and even they would have no business on a career-retrospective of Squeeze. After this album, Squeeze would not, in fact, “play on.” After 25 years together, Difford and Tilbrook packed it up and went their own separate ways. The band may have gone on a few more years than they should have, and you never know if they might be back someday, but in their moments of greatness, they were “the quintessential pop band, with fluffy riffs, music rich in appeal and variety, and lyrics to warm the cockles of any suburban heart.” HE
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First posted 3/16/2006; last updated 5/20/2022. |
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