The Juliana Theory - Love

What can I say? Sometimes change is a bad thing. It seems that the bigger a band gets the more watered-down, over-produced and just plain awful the music gets. I had been waiting in anticipation for this album, only to be crushed when it was finally released (after being pushed back for months upon months). With this being their major label debut, produced by Talking Head’s Jerry Harrison (Live, No Doubt), the band obviously opted for a new sound. However, most of the songs are either too monotonous or sound like Our Lady Peace b-sides (that’s what touring with Canada’s biggest band gets you, I guess). Moreover, the pace of the album is off. As soon as it starts to pick up with tracks like “DTM,” it drops back down, idling on slower, mellower tracks. The only obvious single on this album is “Into The Dark,” and that was originally featured on their last album, Emotion is Dead! Bottom line: they are trying too hard to fit into a fickle, mainstream, pop market. This is an extremely poor effort from a group who produced two very strong independent releases. If you’re into bands that compromise their talent for radio airplay, then this is right up your alley. [www.thejulianatheory.com]