Review Summary: The Smiths aping Britpop boys come unstuck on their third outing.
In 1998 the Britpop movement that Shed Seven were at the forefront of was faultering, and a lot of bands were falling by the wayside into oblivion. The Sheds, however, showed their typical trait of bulletproof swagger and branded themselves invincible via the massive hit single 'She Left Me On Friday' on the lead up campain for the band's third album 'Let It Ride'.
Anticipation for this new album was very high back in '98, as it was the follow up to the gigantic 1996 sophomore effort 'A Maximum High', a record which had shifted a quater of a million copies in the U.K and produced no less than five hit singles... But it ultimately ended with frustration as 'Let It Ride' hit the ground with a dull thud, selling far less copies than expected and garnering a swaythe of apathetic reviews. Indeed, so harsh was the faliure that the band's label (Polydor) forced them to release a 'best of' the following year before promptly throwing the Sheds into the gutter. But there couldn't have been too many tears in the Shed Seven camp, though, as 'Let It Ride' was an undeniable mess of an LP. It really felt like the album was the work of two disparate artists by the way of the band's guitarist Paul Banks and it's vocalist Rick Witter.
Paul Banks, to his credit, goes hell-for-leather on this album, filling every nook and cranny with catchy licks and subtle twists. Every song has about six guitar lines on it, and they all have a least one searing, brilliant solo. 'Let It Ride' is Paul Banks' masterwork. A fantastic guitar showcase for an exceptional guitarist... Not to be outdone, Rick Witter also grits his teeth and tries (less impressively) to fill all the nooks and crannies with vocal work and meaningful lyricism, all without resorting to the type of heavy handed Morrissey theft that had always loomed over him at every turn.
And there lies the rub. With every space filled several times over, 'Let It Ride' is far too cluttered. Witter and Banks seem to be competing with each other for attention on this album, with neither one letting the others melodies breathe. They just don't compliment each other well, with songs like 'Half Way Home', 'Drink Your Love' and 'Let It Ride' all suffering from relentless vocals and way too many guitar overdubs which all eventually coagulate into one single 'slab' of sound.
But all is not lost, because there are occassional times when it all come together with classic results. Huge ballad 'Chasing Rainbows' is, of course, the ultimate Shed Seven standard and the band's signiture tune. Paul Banks' delightful indie blues guitar frames one of the most moving and wistful performances that Witter ever gave. It's hard not to get an immediate shiver down the spine as the opening lines of "There are things that I regret / Like being called a nervous wreck / And working up another sweat for you" come drifting out of the speakers like a meloncholy burst of rain sent strait from heaven... And then on the opposite side of the spectrum you have the classic indie rave-up of 'She Left Me On Friday' which remains a wet dream for indie-disco DJs everywhere, with it's stop start swagger and shouty chorus of "She left me on friday / And ruined my weekend / She thinks we're still best friends / She thinks we're still alright" kicking off a thousand house parties. Opening track 'Return', meanwhile, is also completely mind blowing, building up from an echoey solo into a monsterous seven minute epic with all stops being pulled out on the guitar front (icluding one of the greatest riffs EVER).
Elsewhere, the band pull yet more decent tunes out of the bag with the progish single 'The Heroes' and the wonderful Small Faces-esque 'Devil In Your Shoes', both of which again show just how great a guitarist Paul Banks can be. The stadium rock of 'Stand Up And Be Counted' isn't half bad either, taking a place as the heaviest thing that the band ever recorded. Alt-folk ballad 'In A Hole', on the other hand, is utterly worthless with it's stilted instrumentation and luke-warm emoting making for the worst song off the record by far, whilst closing track 'Goodbye' is a harmless / pointless two minute outro that has no real use of any kind.
In the end, 'Let It Ride' isn't too bad. It's got a handful of genuine classics buried on it, yet it also has it's fair share of middling-to-poor tracks. Ultimately it levels out around average. I still enjoy spinning it from time to time, but it is undoubtedly Shed Seven's weakest offering.
