The Script - No Sound Without Silence (Album Review)
Thursday, 18 September 2014
Written by Gavin Rees
Someone should really have copied the Script in on those Apple/U2 emails. It’s no joke to have to trade pop-rock blows with Bono and pals and, even given the deficiencies present on ‘Songs Of Innocence’, ‘No Sound Without Silence’ quickly fades into the background.
On album four, Danny O’Donoghue has vacated his spinning chair on The Voice and returned to the day job in dependably earnest, committed fashion, ticking off arena ballad conventions like he’s marking a GCSE IT exam completed by Bill Gates.
No Good In Goodbye, the first song, collates the record’s aims and failings in one handy place. Wringing everything possible from its lyrical conceit, it’s well executed but beige.
It’s not that they haven’t aimed big - quite the opposite - it’s that going through the motions is going through the motions whether you’re bashing out a three chord tune or trying to communicate with people at the back of an enormodome.
Having a crack at bands like the Script is a terribly easy and, often, self-serving pastime. But, with all the good will in the world, ‘No Sound Without Silence’ is rarely able to engage on a level beyond superficial grandstanding.
There are moments here - the chorus of Superheroes, Army Of Angels’ love-one-another message, Never Seen Anything Quite Like You’s strings or Without Those Songs’ namedrops - that will reverberate around some big venues and be devoured by a good number of the band’s fans, you can be sure of it.
The problem is not necessarily one of calculation or insincerity - in fact, that’s an accusation the band are largely able to sidestep - it’s that it’s hard to invest in these songs. They sparkle in terms of production and delivery, but don’t sink their hooks in. Even to the band’s most devoted followers, that will be a disappointment.
The Script Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri September 19 2014 - MANCHESTER Albert Hall
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