IN REVIEW: Bush - "Black and White Rainbows"

Any goodwill Bush built up with the familiar yet forward pushing Man On the Run three years ago is effectively wiped out on seventh record Black and White Rainbows. The aim seems to be creating rich, important stadium pop/rock anthems akin to the likes of U2 and/or Coldplay; however, with much of the performances coming across flat and dull, this ends up being a record that misses the mark handily.

The electronic flourishes that were minimized last time out are back again here and, while keyboards may be par for the course among younger, sprier alt-indie bands, they feel like a forced attempt at relevance here. To be sure, it's no crime to tinker with your sound and explore outside possibilities, but with very few exceptions the experiments on this record fail to prove much benefit to the songs.

Also, if you're going to run fifteen tracks deep on an album that clocks in just shy of an hour, you've got to bring more sustained energy than is found on Black and White Rainbows; at a point this thing just drags on, and sitting through it becomes more an act of attrition than an intriguing album experience.

There was potential here, but all told Black and White Rainbows is a tepid, toothless and overlong record disguised as a brave new mission statement. By neglecting longtime fans eager for at least a little bit of rock substance and failing to come up with strong enough pop songs to earn interest from a new generation, one can't help but fear that Bush is about to clear the room.

March 10, 2017 • Zuma Rock
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