The songwriting is flimsy and forgettable, and the performance feels rushed and disengaged. 'Let's Face the Voices and Dance' is an ample demonstration of Abacus' biggest weaknesses. For what it's worth, it's cool to hear a ban explore such a wide range of sounds and style within the space of a few years, even if they haven't been altogether successful with it.Ĭhris Williams' nasally voice has always been problematic for me, but it's the band's songwriting itself that comes out most empty. The psychedelia has begun to finally filter out, leaving overt sounds of country rock, not unlike The Band from Canada. The biggest surprise on Midway is the turn their pop approach has taken. Midway continues to distance Abacus away from progressive rock, and save for a few notable moments (including the instrumental 'Revalations' and a ten minute title track) you wouldn't be able to guess they had been flirting with symphonic prog only a couple of years back.

Ever since their proggy side was reduced to a side-dish, Abacus sound more confident and comfortable in their sound. There has been some welcome evolution over the course of their history, but there are still problems that have bogged down Abacus since the debut, not least of all their uninvolved performance and shallow songwriting.Īlthough I'm far from enthusiastic about Abacus' post-debut direction, it was clear from the start where their loyalties lay. By Abacus' fourth album Midway, Abacus feel far more comfortable playing pop than they ever did with prog rock. From their beginnings onward, the relative quality of their material has been inconsistent at best, but they were always just enough ideas and developments to keep me interested to hear the next album. Since the release of their self-titled debut, Abacus turned their backs towards the overt style of prog they had somewhat kindled, going instead for a psychedelic pop hybrid. Posted Sunday, | Review this album | Report (Review #1177061) Head and shoulders above these two, but it's certainly a step up from the bland art pop If you want toĬheck out this band, you would be best off exploring the self-titled debut, not that I'm saying it's These two albums is mediocre to warrant even a marginal recommendation. Both records offer a handful of decent tunes but far too much of the material included on The material on each is weak, Abacus make sure to leave a handful of interesting I am noticing a pattern with Everything You Need and Midway. The two are paired up awkwardly like this. As it so happens, I'm equally as dismissive when The quality of songwriting (or frustrating lack thereof) that limits Abacus so much.Įverything You Need is surely the better of the two, but neither album sparks my interest Problem with pop music is that songwriting becomes all the more important to its success it's I certainly don't dislike Midway and 'Everytning You Need'īecause they fell short of Abacus' prog potential and opted for pop. I'm not sure I understand the motivation behind compiling two incredibly mediocre albums and Two lame albums for the price of one? No thanks. 'Everything You Need & Midway' - Abacus (30/100)

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