The Albums

Shiver

In the first version of this site, the most extreme reaction I had was that my view of this album is all wrong. I am not a huge fan of it, and my opinion has not changed. I know that it was immensely successful in Australasia, but it still seems to me an album short on a few ideas. The lyrics are very strong and very political, but here the music seems a little weightless, and it really tails away in its second half.

Nonetheless, there is some very good stuff. I love the chug-along Conscience, and the classic She Has To Be loved - a famously strong “woman’s” song. However, songs like Save Me, Bag lady and Self Deceiver seem, to me, to be underdeveloped, giving the album, overall, a faintly flat tone, and Shiver itself is a wildly disappointing title track. Deride my opinion if you like...but at least I’m being honest!