Firstly, some gripes. The recording quality isn't great, often sounding a bit muddy and without any punch to the kick-drum or vocals. On the plus side, the grunty guitar sound is great and the sound is wonderfully enveloping at times.
However, the big gripe is often the lyrics; despite telling interesting stories, the rhyming can be simplistic and lazy. A particularly cringeworthy example is in So What: "You're really somethin' / I'm nearly jumpin' ". Urgh. Also afflicted by this problem are Who's Gonna Save Us, Jimmy, One Said to the Other and Maitland Street. In the End is ruined for me by poor rhymes, which is a shame because it's quite interesting musically.
Speaking of musically, despite the album's reputation as dumbed-down, songs like Jimmy, In the End and The Room wouldn't be out of place on Roll On! At the other end of the complexity scale, What Would You Do is a pop-punk ditty opener with great energy but not a lot of substance. Who's Gonna Save Us is a favourite for me, thanks to its description of Australian political situation at the time (lack of a credible opposition to the conservative government). But without those rose-tinted glasses it turns out to be an awkward stew of a song with some weak sections. However, it has a great singalong chorus.
One Said to the Other also has a great chorus, catchy verses and my favourite element is the pre-chorus. It is quite "radio-friendly" and formulaic, but I like it. Similarly, the distorted opening to Short Notice is a bit contrived, but overall I find it an enjoyable pop-rock ditty with a nice bite to the lyrics. Hold Up cranks up the silliness to Guttermouth levels. The simple rhyming lyrics suit this song well, making it a bit of a throwback to the simpler Prisoner of Society days.
The Eagles-esque easy-listening style of Maitland Street, Putting You Down and So What was a shock to many fans, but I think they're interesting and well-executed songs. Maitland Street would make a great theme song for a TV show. And if you drop the notion that The Living End are meant to be an angry punk bank, Putting You Down is an interesting ride, especially the subtle guitar parts in the background. So What adds a relatively rebellious chorus to remind us they haven't completely abandoned the punk style...
I've saved the best till last: my three favourite songs on the album. Tabloid Magazine has a fantastic grunty guitar opening and chorus. Some might say its at odds with the pop-friendly verses, but I prefer to focus on the brilliant build-up to the final chorus. In the punk tradition, it highlights an important social issue but in a more sophisticated musical style.
End of the World. Wow. Brilliant. From the guitar frantically scratching in the background, to the contrasting smooth and snarling lyrics, this is an all-time favourite song of mine. The guitar solo and instrumental breakdown are also brilliant. The very notion of the end of the world is a pretty epic concept, and if you listen to this song in the dark at maximum volume, you'll find the song lives up to this promise and makes you feel like you're actually there!
Like Bohemian Rhapsody, 8 minutes disappears very quickly when listening to The Room. Some of the transitions are as subtle as a sledgehammer, but the sections themselves are brilliant. Like The Godfather movies, sometimes it is slow moving with very little happening, but the genius is that you never feel this is the case and are happy to be along for the ride. The lyrics beautifully tell the tale, a particular highlight of mine is:
If I lent my arms to you-
Would you hold me and embrace me?
Or replace me?
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