Aqualung's second album, ‘Still life’ is like eating lettuce. Its nothing electrifying, you enjoy it - but its still tasteless, after munching lettuce you still have an appetite, and both have an 80% water content.
Regardless of how calming, simplistic and gentle Matt Hale's vocals may be, its impossible at the conclusion not to think, "is that it?". Sure, the album has some strange floating, therapeutic abilities, but its also flat. Damn flat. Its easy to forget there’s music playing, and turning up the volume only means the piano keys are pressed harder.
Coldplay comparisons jolt instantaneously, if you’ve a craving for whiney English vocals, lacklustre rhythms containing drowsy strings and piano melodies, resort back to the originals in the field, Radiohead’s "The Bends" or Coldplay’s "Parachutes". Whilst Coldplay eventually grew tired of their own babbling boredom and became rockier on their second album ‘A Rush Of Blood To The Head’, Aqualung has seized the gap.
Aqualung's first single, "Strange and Beautiful", was released in Britain in 2002 where the song was used in a Volkswagen Beetle television commercial. The Brits went mad over the tune, interrogating advertising agencies, radio stations and Volkswagen dealerships asking to know who had written the music and where they could get more. Thus, Aqualung was born.
Standout songs:
*"Another Little Hole"
*"Brighter Than Sunshine"
Overall:
Good for a Sunday morning hangover, playing cards or as a background mood setter where listening to lyrics is a bonus. The album is very much in the middle of the road and difficult to form an opinion about as it isn’t doing anything especially good or bad. Perhaps a name change is required, I suggest "Still Life" should become "Still Awake".
Aqualung's second album, ‘Still life’ is like eating lettuce. Its nothing electrifying, you enjoy it - but its still tasteless, after munching lettuce you still have an appetite, and both have an 80% water content.