SPARTA
Porcelain (Geffen)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Having heard good things about Sparta, I was surprised to pick up the jewel case and discover that's what I was listening to a while ago when I expected to find something like U2: The Lost Recordings. True, close attention to the song structures reveals something too metallic and busy to be what I'd originally thought I was hearing, but the entire album is peppered with Bonoisms so blatant it's hard to believe they weren't shooting for that effect. By the time vocalist Jim Ward starts wailing something in "From Now To Never" that sounds exactly, note for note, like Bono singing "I'm wide awake" from "MLK," it almost feels like an extremely odd tribute record. Even when the others blast punk - and don't get me wrong, these guys are pros who play well - you still end up waiting for the U2 clue, which is almost surely going to be there. They do close the album with a song called "Splinters" that is hot as hell and completely deBonofied, which means Ward isn't stuck with that voice. Good.

© 2004 - DJ Johnson