I've already gone on at length about the difference between this album's first single, "Indecision," and what I've heard from Page's former band the Barenaked Ladies, so as such I'll try really, really hard to focus more on the actual sound of this album rather than the circumstances of its creation. Also, as it contains a number of songs of varying style and quality, I'll be attempting to avoid using the words "Scattershot," "uneven" and "mixed bag."
Speaking of BNL, Page One begins with Page's statement on the matter, much like BNL released theirs as the lead single, ("You Run Away.") Page one-ups his ex-cohorts by writing a cleverer, catchier tune about the matter that also generally relates to getting on with a new phase in your life. This would be "New Shore," which begins with the rapid fire declaration, "As captain of this merry band of sailors / I'm a black mark, I'm a failure / but before you watch me drown: / I'm relinquishing command / for something I don't understand / This man's about to turn his whole life upside down." and concludes all talk on the matter by saying: "I settled here on a new shore / My lips were blue and my legs were sore / And I forgot if I was pushed or I jumped overboard / And after all this time, what's the difference?" What I like about this song is that it acknowledges the split (and in particular, the complicated nature of it,) gets something somewhat meaningful out of it, and urges us to move on. In fact, that song was the only point during the album I was really made to think about the former band, although my mind keeps coming back to them in retrospect, so I'll leave it for the end of the review.
"Indecision" sets the tone for the rest of the album. That's not to say every song sounds like it, in fact the opposite is true: every song sounds only like itself. Steven's tendency or ability to dabble in this style and that, to pledge sincere devotion and sarcastically keep everyone else at arm's length, his use of lyrical and stylistic contradiction flavour this album. So, he warns not only to his potential date but also to his listener to "Be prepared for indecision, it might make me disappear, but then again, my addiction to indecision is the thing that keeps me here." That's what the album's about, in essence.
Lyrically, the album is focused on difficult relationships. The biting "Marry Me" ("I could stand to be your man, I could stand to be your man") sits next to the sincere yearning of "All the Young Monogamists" which begins by looking down then ends by looking up. It all culminates with one of my favourite tracks from this piece, "If You Love Me," which cops a poppy, almost J. Geilsy synth riff, around a hook that seems so amazingly naive you've gotta believe Page is being funny: "Iiiiiiiiif you love me / everything will be all right tonight." I have to interpret it more as something he (narrator-Page, not writer-Page) hopes will work than something he sincerely believes. It works on levels, like much of the album.
Between this synth pop and the New Wave jag of "Queen America" is a song I'm just flat-out glad exists, a horn-fueled Paul Anka pastiche called "Leave Her Alone" that also incorporates pedally-guitars and some of Page's best vocals. I have absolutely no idea the last time I heard an album that wanted to sound as different from itself as this one. Here and there it's 90's pop, there's a waltzy ballad in "Clifton Springs," the cellos on "Monogamists," the beat of "She's Trying To Save Me," or the soul outpouring of "The Chorus Girl" (and it's a neat trick when you have three or four ballads on an album and they all sound distinct.) The album's frankly relentless and there's a lot to like, although it's no guarantee every track will hit you, and in fact every listener might take a liking to completely different ones than me. Or none of it.
Now is when I come back to BNL. There's a real tangible difference between their latest and this. Whether you like All in Good Time or not, it has its appeal. It's a mature, late-career album from a band that was rambunctious but has settled down and wants to take it easy. There's a real audience for that, especially around here, and I can't swipe at them for wanting to make that album. But you can see where the creative differences between Page and his ex-bandmates comes in. This is not an easygoing late-career album. This is a fussy, exuberant, mid-career album from someone who's still interested in changing his style. And whether it works for you or it doesn't, I can't help but respect the effort. Page and his collaborators (chiefly Stephen Duffy, who co-wrote a number of BNL tracks and more than half this album) are well-versed in pop styles and turn out a great bunch of songs, which sounds a little less polished and put-together than a BNL album but less ragged than a different artist's solo effort might. There's a sense that Steven Page got to the studio, looked around at the instruments, and realized, "My God... I can do anything!"
I appreciate it. In this day and age when it's easier than ever to be avant-garde, it's rewarding to hear an album that sounds pattered after Paul McCartney or Brian Wilson, which makes the framework work for it. I just keep coming back to wondering who the album's for: too poppy for rock fans, too cool for the middle-aged, too wise for the young, too sarcastic for the old, not ironic enough for the hipsters. But leave that for the marketing department, I like the way the album sounds. There are forgettable tracks, but they have their charms too. It falters here and there but the best part is that when the album doesn't work, something completely different comes from around the corner.
Above all else, it feels like Page hasn't settled down, he's still thriving on indecision. Not every track will win you over, but there's enough on here to keep interested listeners coming back. If you accuse Page of not caring about putting out good music, I'll give you a scattershot right to your uneven mixed bag.
Buy this album from iTunes now!
