[allcdcovers]

Music > Albums > Cosmic Rough Riders - Too Close to See Far (2003) Retail CD
added on August 13, 2007, at 12:09 by Unclebuck007

Too Close to See Far was written and recorded under severe pressure on two fronts. Firstly, Cosmic Rough Riders' 2000 album Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine had been universally, and deservedly, hailed as a masterpiece: an irresistible collection of guitar pop confections that was a worthy heir to a lineage that included The Byrds, Big Star and Cosmic Rough Riders' fellow Glaswegians Teenage Fanclub (there are a few moments on Too Close to See Far, notably "Blind", which TFC should regard as the sincerest form of flattery). Secondly, as if Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine wasn't a sufficiently tough act to follow, Cosmic Rough Riders had to follow it without their lead singer and principal songwriter Daniel Wylie, who'd quit the group. Given these unpropitious circumstances, it is remarkable that the worst that can be said of Too Close to See Far is that it's not quite as good as Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine. Given that very few albums are even half as good as Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine, though, this hardly amounts to condemnation. Too Close to See Far plays to all the Cosmics' strengths: an apparently effortless knack for melody, ringing guitars and soaring vocal harmonies. "Justify the Rain" and "Life in Wartime" in particular would have earned places on Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine, and "Tomorrow May Never Come" hints at a hitherto latent, Elliott Smith-like melancholy that may yield yet further treasures. Too Close to See Far is better than it had any right to be, and is a wholly welcome return. --Andrew Mueller

front 1411 x 1400 px

back 1775 x 1380 px

cd 1484 x 1523 px