Regeneration works as a climax to the album in the same way that Through A Long And Sleepless Night does on Casanova. Is it rock? Probably - it's certainly as close as the band ever gets. It's a strong track with some excellent guitar work - Ivor's best on the album, I'd say - and some very Godrich-esque production, whether you like that or not. Neil's vocals hit the sweet spot between indie singer and crooner - Thom Yorke wouldn't have sung it like this. Like Mastermind, the lyrics feel a bit of a jumble, but there's enough of a message to get across the themes implied by the title, so it wraps up the album well, and makes great promises about what comes next. Unfortunate, then, that "we've only just begun" turns out to be such a red herring. Little wonder that this one hasn't been a live fixture since the album itself was toured - like it or not, it's a perfect representation of a dead end. I guess your enjoyment of this one is likely to correlate more or less exactly tk your enjoyment of the album as a whole. 4/5 from me.
Regeneration The most forgettable song on the album, I agree. Its somewhat hypnotic quality works against it in that respect. I keep forgetting that the "where will we run to", because I've zoned out. The Scott Brel/Walker reference is unfortunate in reminding us of better music. The "it's only just begun" hookline isn't quite to my taste. However it's not bad and it's perhaps unfairly neglected. Maybe it would stand out more on a shorter album. (Another reason to lose "L**e W**t Y*u D*) I prefer the acoustic version, thanks for sharing that. 3/5 I think you should stick to your guns re: Bad Ambassador. I still maintain it's a rock track, we were right and they were wrong.
I have to say I do enjoy the guitar work in this song. For me I think it overstays its welcome a bit - in my opinion the song wouldnt lose anything by just having one big climactic guitar riff then ending, rather than then going back to another verse before going around again. 3/5 I think.
Regeneration Me too! I really thought today's song was going to be The Beauty Regime . Almost feel I'm hearing it for the first time, and I enjoyed it. I think the solo version is very good. (Won't enter the contentious 'rock or not' discussion as I'm not sure I know what constitutes 'rock music'...) 3.4/5.0 This song heralds the welcome return of the literary reference, and although I haven't read/seen any of them I thought I'd celebrate by finding out a bit about them and reading too much into the lyrics Hasn't been much of a chance to do this with this album Wikipedia describes The Sheltering Sky as 'a... novel of alienation and existential despair', and another plot summary states: 'The Sheltering Sky is a potent, terrifying book, one that leads the reader into the heart of darkness, an existential journey in which any form of reconciliation or atonement remains tantalisingly out of reach." It seems to focus on a couple having a tough time in their marriage, and travelling from the US to north Africa to escape, but finding the whole experience unfamiliar and frightening. The Razor's Edge seems to be about a young man searching for and finding spiritual peace while surrounded by turmoil and death. Again, it doesn't sound too happy. New beginnings for the band, yes, but also for Neil personally, especially given the last verse (x+y?) and his refusal to talk about it. I'm uncertain though whether the 'it's only just begun' heralds a future to be looked forward to, or one full of dread and despair at what is to come ('the battle is over, but the war's not yet won')... Can you tell I miss the Flan, despite my earlier disparaging comments...?!
I sort of disagree with this. I'm like @christian42 in that I would look at the tracklist of Regeneration and sometimes get surprised that there's also a track called Regeneration, having completely forgotten about its existence. And then I have no idea what it sounds like unless I've listened to it recently. No chance of me/anyone forgetting Through A Long And Sleepless Night though. I like Regeneration the album, and I don't actually mind listening to this song, but would possibly have preferred if it wasn't on the album or had something else on it just to change the feel of it. It's a strange rocky song where you can't even rock out to it, you just have to nod your head a little bit. I don't think I've been even remotely consistent in how I score songs throughout this whole endeavour, but I'll give this one a 2.5 this time.
Regeneration This for me is the sleeper song on the album. In fact I don't think I could even have told you anything about it until I started repeatedly listening to this album in preparation for the thread. It was actually watching this live video that made me sit up and take notice of it, the energy of the band putting their all into it as the final song in the set made it finally stand out from the mass of slower material in the latter part of the album. Let's be clear, it's not earth shattering or groundbreaking, and it owes more than a little to Paranoid Android (other Radiohead comparisons are also available) but as I say, I always enjoy it when this line-up of TDC rocks out a bit and this is a great example. As for the lyrics - I'm not much the wiser as to why Neil didn't want to talk about them in that interview... but are they effectively an extension of "Too Young to Die" - I've come to the end of something, time to start something new? If that's the case then I can see why the song has largely been forgotten given that the "something new" Neil thought he was singing about turned out to be a false start, and "Phase 2" of TDC would actually come after it. Anyway, I like this one, it gets a 4.5
Regeneration The Divine Comedy goes thrash metal! With wailing guitars, absurdly fast double bass drumming (go Miggy!!!) and screaming vocals! OK, that’s a SLIGHT exaggeration but it seems like they are trying to rock out. A bit. Just listen to that guitar feedback. The guitar/piano interplay during the instrumental bit sounds like it was inspired by the intro to ”Planet Telex” by Radiohead. I’m not sure why Neil refers to the song as ”musically complicated” or why it took them a ”crazy long time” to write it. It’s not like it’s a multi-part epic with lyrics about dragons and demons sung in a made-up language in 7/12 time with twenty minute guitar/keyboard shred battles. It’s an OK tune but there’s nothing that really stands out or grabs me — it’s impossible to sing in the shower — and after some hesitation I’ll give this a solid 2.8999938919012/5
Regeneration It’s funny (peculiar) when artists name their album after one of its more anonymous tracks. I’ve heard this a few times and it hasn’t really lodged in my head at all. I guess the album title is a good summation of what Neil et al were trying to do at the time and I note there may be a reference to Pat Barker? I love her writing so that would be really cool if that’s true. I’ve just looked at the lyrics and I can’t really see any connection (war may be mentioned but I don’t think there’s anything to allude to the Great War). Anyway rambling because the song just doesn’t stick with me, sorry. 1.5/5.0
Regeneration I actually prefer the solo acoustic version. Neil's chords are always so good! 2.25/5 for the record version 3.75/5 for the solo version.
Sorry to backtrack to Mastermind, but here's an interesting live version I hadn't heard before. (Apologies if someone else already posted and I missed it.)
Sorry for my silence, but I was knocked out by a stomach bug and mostly spent the last days in bed (apart from getting a Covid test, which was negative). I read the first few comments on "Love What You Do", was baffled at the professions of hatred for it and decided that engaging with them wasn't conducive to my recovery. So I'll catch up now that I'm feeling better: Although professional sounding swaps would be difficult because of all the segues connecting all but the last three tracks. Love What You Do Though this anecdote seems to support the view that I get the opposite from the lyrics in that they're encouraging to not put up with the demands of a dead-end job: Tell them you’re not coming back. Of course, it's another matter that this (and especially the overly optimistic tone of the chorus) might be easier said than done, and surely Neil was in a more privileged position than people who depend on jobs that they don't necessary love. Having said that, the lines Everybody’s running/Round and round in circles/What is it they’re trying to prove? could also be applied to business people in managerial positions being encouraged to get out of the rat race. In any case, I totally understand the song being inspirational and life-changing in this way: That's a great story and kudos to you and your wife for acting on that message. Very ill-advised. The percussion sounds like a very belated rip-off of the clichéd baggy shuffle beat fashionable ten years earlier. It also doesn't suit the extra garage rock guitar sound. Surely not, since apart from "Perfect Lovesong" it's the only really catchy song on the album. Everyone can keep their heads because "Perfect Lovesong" would have been too much of a red herring as it's the one song that sounds the most like TDC's commercial zenith of the previous years and a lot of people would have been even more disappointed by the album. "Bad Ambassador" isn't single-worthy at all in my opinion, but I'd struggle to pick a better single candidate from the remaining album tracks. Finally, someone who agrees with me that this was the right choice for first single given what's on offer. I love the feel as well, especially when the music for the chorus comes in, which sounds like the sun coming up, just a very uplifting feeling but in a more subtle way than the blatant euphoria of "Perfect Lovesong". So I'll have to disagree with this statement: I also love the Kraftwerk-like little chime after the first chorus at 1:39. Unfortunately, both these elements are much diminished in the 2001 live version and completely absent from the piano with Tom Chaplin rendition. Speaking of which: Me too. As much as I enjoyed most of early Coldplay and the Travis hit singles, I always found Keane rather bland and boring. I tried to get into them just because I really liked the artwork of their second album but to no avail. They were really one of the main culprits jumping onto the Coldplay bandwagon without the songwriting prowess to back it up. Thanks for coming up with some eloquent words about the musical merits of the song. I was torn between giving this a 4.5 and a 5, but I've decided to go for a 5 because while I can appreciate people being indifferent to it because it sounds too indie, I'm still shocked at the zeros.
Like McCartney's Chaos and Creation (also prod by Nigel Godrich) this is a fine album, well done, but conservatively produced and rather bland when all is said and done. Find it odd that Nigel didn't like the way Neil's other albums were produced when this one is his most "generic" album IMO. Few Neil-shines and breaks out moments. I'd give "Timestretched", "Bad Ambassador", and "Perfect Lovesong" all 4/5 stars. Perhaps "Bad Ambassador" should be 4.1 Favorite song on the album by ".1" "Note to Self" - eh, 2/5 "Lost Property" - 2.5/5 "Eye of the Needle" - 3.5/5 "Love What You Do" - I should like this one more but on this album, it's another relative even-tempoed downer - 3/5 "Dumb it Down" - nice chorus but so restrained, muted. Wish Neil produced this one himself. But here.. 3/5 "Mastermind" - 4/5 "Regeneration" - 1.5/5 "The Beauty Regime" - 2.5/5 Nothing on this album "breaks out" - if I want to listen to Neil, I usually go for a Neil sounding record like Fin or Bang Goes the Knighthood or one of other great ones that have a feel of reaching heights. Regeneration just kinda lays there, pleasant.
Regeneration Very little to like with this one beyond the opening minute, unfortunately. Turgid and leaden, enough that it drains any interest of delving into the lyrics. We've pointed to this album being an anomaly musically, but more so, the Neil of this album seems largely robbed of the spirit to which we were accustomed, and which is present throughout the catalog prior and post. I guess both his state of mind and the production conspired on that count. I hadn't expected the high numbers for this one today, so perhaps I'm out of step. I prefer the acoustic version posted, so higher scores from me there. 1.75/5
Mastermind 4.0 Good song, one of the best on the album. Angstrospective ballad, the tortured artist as frontman, good tune etc etc
Hello thread. I lost interest in DC sometime before Regeneration. Can't really remember why, if there even was a particular reason. But in the post today, guess what? Regeneration and the next three CDs, off eBay. So I might make a contribution this evening, with the added spice that I will be forming my opinions based on a first listen.
Fantastic, welcome to the thread and welcome to “Regeneration”! Hope you like it more than some of us seem to
“Mastermind” was better than a cigarette, but possibly not a nice cup of tea - scoring 74.25 points from 19 votes for a preliminary score of: 3.91 (I think... struggling with a new phone today and kept losing track of scores whilst I added them up!)
Regeneration This has nothing of the old TDC sound. I don’t like the vocal, the tune is a dirge and the production not to my taste at all. It feels as though this is closer to the first album than Fin. Possibly the worst song on the album for me. 1.5/5
I really hoped Mastermind would make it to 4 or higher. Nuts! (There's no reason for me to be so vested in the score for this one song. Just being a goof!)
Well, first thing is I wasn't expecting to be slapped in the face so much with the Radiohead thing. Wow! In fact, I had been intending to write a post after a single listen to the two tracks. But, first time, I couldn't listen properly for "Itsoundslikeradioheaditsoundslikeradiohead" rattling round my head. So, after two listens... I actually really like Mastermind. A great Karma Police. Sorry, I mean "lyric". Definitely reminds me why I ever liked DC. Doesn't hit the ball out of the park musically, but as a random track from the album, this is promising. Regeneration, on the other hand, is not really floating my iron lung boat. Call this a lyric, Neil? Did you decide you needed a title track twenty minutes before the studio time was up? Apart from that, it sounds like Radiohead. I've not listened to the rest of the album yet, but someone please reassure me that Regeneration is the stand out worst track, if you are able. Not sure I can score these two without some more listens (and it doesn't seem fair, not having done the rest of the album).
