Search - Goddo :: King of Broken Hearts

The Transformation Continues

D. Bowles | Planet Earth | 05/03/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Admittedly, Greg Godovitz's biggest musical influence was the Beatles, and that influence continues to become more prevalent as he matures. While the pulse-pounding rock songs tend to be the vehicles that best display their F-you, sarcastic attitude, there tend to be less of these songs on their newer albums. While the "Goddo sound" of old has been linked to Canadian anthems like "Sweet Thing", (Carole) Kiss My Whip", and "So Walk On", the "new" Goddo sound has much less of an edge and relies more on melody and three-part harmonies. That being said, this album begins with a bit of a throwback to classic Goddo - "Was It Somethin' I Said?" would not be out of place on any one of their first three albums, and lines like "you always figured you were too good, baby, so I took you down a peg or two. I just assumed that you would realize what a man like me could do" is caustic Greg Godovitz at his snotty best.



Still, the pace of the album fades after that, and although there is some good writing here Goddo fans from the early `80s are going to be disappointed if they're looking for a repeat of the first three albums. This is a definite departure, first hinted at in "Pretty Bad Boys", but manifested here in a big way. "Mirror Mirror" and "Dreams Of New York City" are pure blues, and "Lost Without Your Love" sounds more Motown than Lionel Richie. The album finishes strong, though. "Egypt" is somewhat unusual and brings the album back into the rock'n'roll vein, the final two cuts stay high-tempo and even if they don't have the edge of earlier Goddo work, they certainly have catchy hooks. Overall I think this is a stronger effort than "Pretty Bad Boys", but it's missing the "killer single" that PBB had."