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virtually every album they've put out has been subject to the "best album since washing machine" or "best album since dirty" treatment by at least someone. remember leno introducing nurse as having some of the "strongest reviews of their career?" in all honesty, this stuff takes historical perspective, but i'll offer my two cents (which in this inflation-crazed market is now worth . . . uh, nothing):
the main reason why people like you and me are pissed off with this album is that it contains almost NONE of the psychotic, dissonant feedback and experimental attitude that has characterized their sound, however much it has changed over the years, since their inception over a quarter century ago. objectively speaking (i.e., taking the broader perspective of music in general rather than myopically focusing on a comparison to sy's earlier releases), this is a good album -- although i give severe negative points to the lyrics, especially on what a waste, pink steam, and or. however, i agree with most of you that by sy standards this may be hard to swallow, for precisely the reason mentioned above. we were expecting another album full of expressway to yr. skull, karen koltrane, nyc ghosts & flowers, pattern recognition, etc., and we instead got works that are, well, catchy. i'd like to see a return to the old 80s form as much as anyone else here, but everyone needs to evolve, and i don't expect we'll be seeing much of it anymore except on syrs and in side projects.
i'm not going to try to shove rr anywhere on a list with, say, sister or ddn or washing machine, because honestly i think they're such a different band now that such comparisons aren't quite fair.
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