Review:
It’s crunch time for Therapy? Three years have passed since they last released an album, the chart-topping Infernal Love. Since then, the face of rock music has changed. Massively.

When Therapy? played with Metallica at Donington ’95, hardly anyone had heard of Marilyn Manson, Korn and the Deftones. Three years is a long time in music, and while Therapy? have dithered, their peers have not. Skunk Anansie, Bush and Reef also released albums in 1995; all have put out another record since-and a hit record at that.

In this business, you’re soon forgotten. Therapy?, like Terrorvision, have taken a huge risk in spending so much time making this album. It has to be great, if not a classic. At the very least, Therapy? need three or four fantastic singles to rebuild a profile that was as high as any rock band’s back in 1995. Is Semi-Detached as good as Therapy? need to be? Yes. Just.

Church Of Noise is what amounts to a come-back single for Therapy? It entered the chart at number 29, not so high that champagne corks will be popping, nor so low that the band will be panicking. The song itself is a feisty little punkabilly thrash with a comedy chorus, but in truth it’s too silly and lightweight to make people sit up and rave about Therapy? again.

There are much stronger potential singles on Semi-Detached, like Straight Life and Lonely, Cryin’, Only. the latter is a great little mover that sounds a bit like the Manic Street Preachers, or even sombre ’60s crooner Roy Orbison. It begins with an answerphone message by some bloke at the band’s record company moaning: "Leave me a message... or leave me alone". A classic piece of Therapy? paranoia.

Straight Life is the best song here, as noisy and addictive as Nowhere or Stories or whatever Therapy? choon is your fave. One blast of Straight Life and you’ll remember what a fine songwriter Therapy? frontman Andy Cairns is. One glance through the lyrics and you’ll also remember what a miserable bugger he is. Straight Life might be an electrifying rush of noise, but the lyrics are a knot of anger and ennui. "Myself I’m sick of reason", he mopes. "Every bruise feels so familiar".

Yes, Andy Cairns is still the dark lord of bedroom poetry, and yes, Semi-Detached is a fascinating record. Overall it’s not as boisterous as Troublegum, the 1994 album that broke Therapy? all over Europe, but in time Semi-Detached may prove better than either Troublegum or Infernal Love. New songs like the edgy, piano-led Safe and the gloomy closer The Boy’s Asleep grow in stature with each play. Come-back of the year? Over to you, Terrorvision...

Track List:
1. Church Of Noise (3:05)
2. Tightrope Walker (3:18)
3. Black Eye Purple Sky (3:10)
4. Lonely, Cryin’, Only (2:40)
5. Born Too Soon (3:47)
6. Stay Happy (3:53)
7. Safe (4:01)
8. Straight Life (4:47)
9. Heaven’s Gate (3:57)
10. Don’t Expect Roses (2:44)
11. Tramline (4:52)
12. The Boy’s Asleep (4:24)

Log:

EAC extraction logfile from 26. November 2006, 12:45 for CD
Therapy? / Semi-Detached

Used drive  : TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-R5002   Adapter: 1  ID: 0
Read mode   : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache
Read offset correction : 116
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No

Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
                     44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo

Other options      : 
    Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
    Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
    Installed external ASPI interface


Range status and errors
Selected range
     Filename D:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\Therapy\Semi-Detached.wav

     Peak level 97.9 %
     Range quality 100.0 %
     CRC 1B674C5A
     Copy OK

No errors occured

End of status report