Often hailed as one of England’s greatest songwriters, Neil Halstead, former founding member of those early ‘90s shoe-gazers Slowdive, doesn’t exactly deliver the goods on his second solo LP Oh! Mighty Engine. Sounding, for the most part, like a Stars In Their Eyes version of Cat Stevens, the album lacks variety, imagination and charisma. At times the record can be quite touching (‘No Mercy For The Muse’) but for the most part it plays like the soundtrack to some out-dated British Sunday night drama. Your grandparents would probably love this though, so I guess it ain’t all bad.
Key Track: ‘No Mercy For The Muse’