How fast things change in . In the span of just a few years during the early '90s, went from favored saviors of British thanks to their triumphant 1990 debut, , to strife-ridden not-quite-stars when 1992's strong follow-up, , almost saw guitarist joining a then still relevant , to borderline untouchables thanks to the advent of and a bitter, disillusioned third album in 1995's . So, come 1996 and their fourth album, , two details were evident: first, that was never going to become the next or (not that they'd want to, by that stage) and, second, that the only way for their fortunes was up, even if their latest material showed only marginal improvement over their latest effort. Nevertheless, ensconced among the mindless drivel ( ) and the insipidly frivolous ( ) governing these sessions, one will find occasionally memorable efforts such as first single with its Eastern-flavored solo, with its -styled opening guitar figure, and with its forlorn . Classic galore, in other words, and, although its immaculate production and meticulous songcraft helped make it a huge smash in Japan, sounds unbearably safe by today's standards, a relic of a far more commercial era in history and, therefore, really not very thrilling at all. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia