Title: The gift that keeps on giving (Part 2)
Product review: In my opinion, this is THE quintessential intelligent pop album of the past two decades. Period. The first Sprouts album, Swoon, was a gem, but this is even better thanks largely to Thomas Dolby's gifted arrangements of Paddy McAloon's finely crafted songs. Steer clear of TWG if you can't stomach heart-on-sleeve lyrics, angst, and soft melodic hooks. McAloon's music has an ethereal quality, which is complemented perfectly by Dolby's production and Neil Conti's (ex-David Bowie session man, among others) crack drumming. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this is as close to pop perfection as I've ever heard. The album concludes with "When the Angels." The remaining tracks are nice add-ons, though they weren't part of the original album (which was titled "Steve McQueen" in the original U.K. release) and should be considered B-sides. For "The gift that keeps on giving (Part 1)" see the Sprouts' debut album, "Swoon." You'll listen to these two albums for years.
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