OK, here goes. I refuse to assign "scores". That's rather like measuring a Michelangelo statuette to find out whether it's any good. In running order:
When Trust Becomes Sound: It works better the more I hear it, but ... Is this the antithesis of something? A rock-style act of "vengeance" after so many recent introspective compositions? Still wondering. The repetition lessens as you listen to the detail. What are they shouting?
Treasure: I liked this song from day one, but partly because I connect it back in time, to All About Eve's ill-fated but actually very good fourth album
Ultraviolet. Compare it with AAE's "One Finer Day", which you should be able to find on YouTube. It's not the best song on the album, but ...
All You Are: A traditional TG song, really. And it gives Hans a good chance to beat the hell out of his drum kit. Impressive, but not the best song on the album.
The West Pole: Given the need to find a new singer, this album had to be about voices - and it really starts to show here. This is a sublime song - a creation that Pink Floyd would have cheerfully sold their souls for. It's wonderful for several reasons, not least of which is the matching of the voice to the music, especially in the lower-register sections. It's one of two absolute masterpieces on this album. At the same time, it's strangely reminiscent of the past.
No Bird Call: Here's the other masterpiece - and beyond any doubt the best composition on the album. Again, the match between voice and music is superb. Towards the end, it's absolutely breath-taking. These two tracks, taken together, illustrate why Silje became the preferred singer, rather than either of the guests, or anyone else, for that matter (even if she sounds very much like Anneke in places). This is also a song that would have been perfectly at home on the most
sophisticated TG album so far, by which I mean
Souvenirs.
Capital of Nowhere: From the very beginning, note René's very different guitar tone - there's a different voice coming. And when Anne starts to sing, her voice sends shivers down my spine every time. After those initial bars, things flatten out a little - until Marjolein's bass starts to become very noticeable, and suddenly the lightest voice is accompanied by the deepest instrument. The opening may thrill, but as the song develops it gets
steadily better and better. A favourite amongst favourites, but Anne's voice couldn't have worked with all of the songs on this album. (And if this is the track that links back in someone's mind to a certain Scandinavian singer who I mentioned once ... on the basis of a few of her songs, one in particular, she could have competed - but not right across the full range of material on this album
.)
You Promised Me a Symphony: Darkness. Every dream destroyed. It's that introspective moment, and who's to say whether we're meant to compare? It's not the best song on the album, but ... it's all getting almost Brechtian.
Pale Traces: I've already said something about Marcela singing in "Elfonia mode". Perhaps it's because this song also has to work in Spanish, but there's something about the opening sequence that doesn't work for me. Having said that, it then takes off and becomes one of the heaviest songs on the album. Not only that, but it straddles all the eras somehow, slotting in anywhere between
Mandylion and
Souvenirs. To some extent, Marcela's wonderful voice echoes
early Anneke - there's no escaping this conclusion. Another favourite amongst favourites. If I could read the sleeve notes, perhaps I'd know whether Marcela is playing the violin near the end.
No One Spoke: Again, back to an earlier Anneke era - perhaps
HTMAP this time? And a bass lead in the middle! Then we can turn away from those thoughts - including thoughts about the past - and listen with awe to René's guitar after about 3:20. And then listen with awe to how Silje's voice suits that mood (as it should, after Octavia Sperati). Suddenly, we're going back to the roots - and I've always said that despite the general move away from "metal", TG can revisit the mood of that territory at any time, because they know how to do it. A great song.
A Constant Run: From the opening bars, we're moving, as the title suggests. This starts as a strongly Anneke-type song - both in terms of the tune and the lyrics. But I'm starting to wonder what I mean by that. Soon, we're listening to a Silje-style construction instead. And fabulous, fabulous music. One of the fabulous things about the songwriting is that you just
know when the song title is coming - it's got a very strong hook. And more guitar magic after 3:00, matched again to Silje's way of singing. I've mentioned two masterpieces on this album, and this would be number three ... if I didn't feel that the final playout is slightly too long.