A "not so nice" review (from a person whose enjoyment of a music depends on just how idyllic the picture portrayed by the words is).
"
The Ministry of Defence": "they've sprayed graffiti in Arabic and balanced sticks in human shit".
"
Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln" offers bright uplift with the appearance of
mellotron and flute <...>.
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"When she sings, on The Ministry of Defence, "they've sprayed graffiti in Arabic and balanced sticks in human shit", you're there all at once: amidst the heat and the fizzing tension of a war zone. But you’re adrift and off balance – what to do with this? Admire it? Perhaps. Sing along?
Enjoy? Flesh it out with your own - accompanying, complementary - response? As with much of this difficult record, it's a timely reminder that being hectored is rarely a very fulfilling experience." -
reviewer wants to be "fulfilled" by the song about trashed (former) government building? Well, sometimes music is intended to be unsettling and thought-provoking. And "enjoyment" is not always your sing-along-ey happy-pop-music-fan category - enjoyment could also be intellectual or esthetic.
""What’s happened? Let's go and ask the Ministry of Social Affairs," she sings.
Let's not, you think.
That's probably not the answer, you think." -
And what is the answer then? It's government responsibility to improve people's lives so they wouldn't have to beg on the street. But I presume that reviewer's "answer" would be not to do anything and listen to something "life-affirming" to forget about these people ASAP.
Once again, they want her to "
find some room for answers amidst the questions – or, at least, some hint of seeking to balance negative with positive". That's right - you just
HAVE TO find something positive about refugees camps, beggars, segregation, trashed buildings and empty houses, otherwise it's gonna depress civilized people. Also, Polly is not a politician to "find answers".
Oh yeah, they also say what "The Wheel" is "almost" as good as "Big Exit", which is a weird comparison in general IMO.
