Labels: Major
Review by: Alex Deller
Much vaunted by the type of people who bang on about Jeff Buckley but probably wouldn’t if he hadn’t died, and also declared as “the new Bob Dylan” by folks bestowing that same praise on any sappy troubadour with a shit voice and an acoustic guitar, I was always a little dubious of hearing what Mr Adams had to offer. ‘Love is Hell’ pretty much confirms those prejudices, with mid-paced rockers like ‘Political Scientist’ occupying the same cluttered space filled with haircuts and falsettos in the teeming, post-‘OK Computer’ rock arena and the loathsome, drippy ballads that all these types seem to crank out in order to get laid. Then, of course, there’s a stunningly pointless rendition of ‘Wonderwall’, a song that stank before a million cretins rode it mercilessly into the ground on karaoke nights across the country. Dull, miserably competent and doubtless bound to appease lonely, hand-wringing students the world over.