I'm not sure what the motivation is behind the sudden trend for bands to totally change musical styles mid-career, but Goldfrapp's Seventh Tree is a shining example. Following up on two purely amazing electronica albums, Goldfrapp's newest release fails to even make it into the genre. From start to finish, the album cruises along in a sleepy snooze inducing light atmosphere with very few shining moments. Unlike previous albums that were nicely peppered with awesome thumping beats and beautifully crafted atmosphere, Seventh Tree never gets off the ground. I find myself waiting and waiting and, yep, more waiting, and then suddenly the album is over.

Early on in the recording process the band did in fact warn us that they were trying something very different for a change, but why does that always have to equal slow quaint music? Lately I've been seeing this trend a lot in the metal world, but I was very disappointed to see it happen with this great band as well. Having been a big fan of Black Cherry and Supernature, I was extremely pumped to see what they had in store... until I actually listened to it. Despite what I've read on multiple professional review sites, the album in no way sounds to me like a good direction for the band. Sure, if you feel your career has gotten to the point where you can safely experiment, rather than writing the same music all the time, by all means go ahead and do it, but with some respect for your past history! There's a reason successful bands are known for releasing side projects and solo albums at some stage in their career. The whole point is that you can experiment and record what you want without any expectations. Call it Parfdlog and be done with it.

Of course, Goldfrapp has always been known to be a little strange, especially on the first album Felt Mountain, but they do not have the fan base they have today because of releasing albums like their debut. You can't expect to change styles in the middle of your career and not piss off all of your fans. Take the comments on this review for example. Overall, it's a very mixed bag with reviews ranging from "OMG, best album EVAR" to, "What is this garbage?" Lets face it, most bands could shit on an album, charge $20, and die hard fans are always going to rave about how original and inspiring it is. Though, the reality of it is, yes, bands DO make mistakes now and again. Call it "artistic license" or "originality," it's still the same: not what you were hoping to hear.

With all that being said, the album is still interesting in its own right, just not as a Goldfrapp album. I'm sure there are many people who regularly listen to similar music and think this a great album, I'm not one of them. I'm sick of great bands releasing amazing albums and following it up with garbage. Sure you can't always release winners, and you have to have variety, but changing your whole sound is just evil. By the way, what the hell is up this album pictures? On the cover Alison looks like either a failed and depressed pirate or a freaking Olsen twin, and in the picture to the right she looks like she's wearing a clown suit and being humped by an owl furry at a cosplay event. WTF. Where's my hot glamor girl? *sigh*