Squeeze Album: “Ridiculous”

This is a great album, and that's all there is to it. Tilbrook's vocals are outstanding, and Difford's words are still up to par. "This Summer" is one hell of a single, and if people would pay attention in the U.S., it could have been a hit. "I Want You", "Heaven Knows," "Walk Away," and "Temptation For Love" really stand out.

Difford and Tillbrook deliver a wonderfully diverse collection despite being misunderstood by record companies and mainstream audiences. As always, the duo hits home by exploring everyday situations and providing interesting insights. Those looking for 'snappy' pop tunes as on their local pub's copy of 'Singles - 45 and Under' may be disappointed. Although this record has some strong pop singles - from the quintessential Difford\Tillbrook - 'This Summer' to the Beatlesque 'I Want You', 'Ridiculous' has been created for those who long for clever writing, unique melodies and a clear attention to detail. Difford and Tillbrook assert themselves as masters of musical imagery ....once again.

I have a whole bunch of Squeeze albums. CD's, I mean. In high school I heard

them for the very first time, the song "Black Coffee In Bed". I still live in the

same area, and I have also heard "Tempted" (singer, Paul Carrack on lead, and

on some station I heard "Last Time Forever", with the Jack Nicholson overdub.

I'm not British, so I excuse a lot of people here in the US for their lack of love

for Squeeze. "Ridiculous" took a long time to grow on me. Although the album

is not overproduced, it is one of those albums that needs not remastering, even

now. My favorites, when I first bought this album, were "Walk Away" and

two others. Now, this whole album rocks. I know it isn't exactly rock, and that

is a matter of taste. All of Squeeze's album have electric guitar included, so

there is a rock taste. Such as "Pulling Mussels from A Shell" on Argybargy.

There are a lot of rock songs by Squeeze, their brand.

"Ridiculous" has a lot of songs that make me keep coming back. Because

of the lyrics, the melodies. They have their followers, and this album is

one for starters.

..

I too had hoped these tunes would grow on me being a life-long Squeeze fan but they just seem bland an uninteresting. This like any Squeeze effort has a few moments. The nostalgic "Electric Trains" is very touching and reminds me of the Squeeze of the "Argybargy" period. "Daphne" also is a great song, somewhat reminiscent musically of XTC's "Dear God". Then there is "This Summer" which is a great slice of pop heaven. Other than that, filler and three good songs do not a classic make.

I bought this hoping it would be as good as some of their earlier stuff, but instead, I'm left with a bland-to-boring cd of tired songs by a band who should've called it quits ages ago...I was also amazed that they recorded what is essentially the same song twice, under two different titles: "Heaven Knows" and "I Want You" - maybe they figured no one would notice because few people could sit through the whole cd....