IN REVIEW: Bush - "Man On The Run"

Bush have never really been in a position where they've been rooted for. Their first album, 1994's Sixteen Stone, was a massive hit; that was good for their pocketbooks but not so much for their reputation, as for every appreciative fan who bought the album they seemed to have two wagging tongues belittling the tunes for being derivative mainstream-minded versions of Nirvana songs. As the first new group to achieve such a massive scale of success in the wake of Kurt Cobain's death (Sixteen Stone sales are over six million in the U.S. alone), Bush claim the (dubious?) distinction of being the first "post-grunge" band.

They would go on to release three more albums of diminishing quality (plus an abysmal remix album) before temporarily disbanding in 2002. Despite best efforts, their slick Bob Rock produced 2011 comeback The Sea of Memories was a mere blip, barely cracking the top 20 and going largely ignored outside of their most fervent fans and a handful of highly nostalgic rock radio programmers. For their follow-up, they jumped on the Pledge Music bandwagon, offering a variety of "fan experiences" and ensuring a more substantial take home pay. The move ruffled a few feathers among pundits who wondered why a guy with a net worth in the millions who's married to Gwen Stefani (who's worth a shitload more) was standing on the corner rattling a cup of change. It's only a partially fair question, as it's more than happy to criticize the rich kid smiling in the foreground while ignoring the fact that there are three other guys in the band, two of whom weren't around for the heyday (read: payday). I say as long as people know what they're buying and are willing to pay for it, no harm no foul.

Regardless, the original decline of the band from the public eye coupled with a lackluster return set expectations low for sixth album Man On The Run. In terms of the music, this album is a little less explicit in its nostalgia compared to its predecessor; there's nothing as blatantly derivative of the band's hits as previous record's Glycerine II All Night Doctors. It also finds the group cutting back on the gloss and scaling back some of The Sea of Memories' most poppy tendencies, which is the most immediate benefit of trading Bob Rock for Nick Raskulinecz at the boards.

Lead single The Only Way Out sums up the album's intentions nicely, striking the balance between the rock edge they've always had and the melodic tendencies that they brought to the last album. It's a big rock radio single, and makes no attempt to be anything else. Throughout, the album is full of melody that would have been buried under supersized riffs or electronics during the band's original run. Even Gavin Rossdale's lyrics, once impenetrable and meaningless, have a discernible message even if they're not as "poetic" as they used to be.

My first reaction to the record was admittedly somewhat apathetic, but once I got past the band's history and took the songs at face value I enjoyed it a lot more. Loneliness Is A Killer isn't a fantastic tune when you're dissecting it in relation to Comedown, but on its own terms there isn't anything wrong with it. Ditto Surrender, the kind of straight-ahead ballad that they wouldn't have dreamed of playing while they were clutching at artistic integrity in the late '90s; the thing is, they pull it off beautifully, and the trumpets are an unexpected welcome touch.

Don't get me wrong, the album's not a revelation or anything, and nothing on here is designed to blow your mind. It's just refreshing to hear the result of a band that stops thinking about how they're being received and just focuses on putting together the best sounding songs they can. One gets the feeling listening to this record that, had it been released in 1999 instead of the cold, difficult The Science of Things, there would be more people talking about Bush today.

I like that Man On The Run doesn't pretend to be more than the straight-ahead rock record that it is, or force nostalgia down my throat. I'm okay that a lot of it is so far removed from the band we used to know because the band itself is far removed. A lazy attempt at recapturing the essence of Sixteen Stone would have been the easy way out; as Rossdale reminds us, though, "the only way out is through". By acknowledging their past but not hanging their hat on it, Bush proves with Man On The Run that they're more than just a money minded nostalgia machine. I, for one, am rooting for them this time out.

October 21, 2014 • Zuma Rock/Sony

Highlights The Only Way Out • Loneliness Is a Killer • Surrender