Amazon.co.uk Review
Therapy? are a strange bunch. Malingering somewhere between the political and the comic, the punky, the poppy and the metallic, they've spent 15 years purposefully avoiding categorisation. If only there were more bands with that kind of courage. So,
High Anxiety is a welcome return after two painful years without a drummer or a record deal. True to form, they've recruited a sticksman from the very top drawer. Where 2001's
Shameless employed Barrett Martin, the powerhouse behind
Screaming Trees,
High Anxiety features Neil Cooper from the criminally ignored the
Beyond. The effect is immediate, Cooper adding a vital edge and energy to a set of songs that, for the most part, would not make it onto any Therapy? hits package.
Highlights are the opening, rumbling and humorously blasphemous "Hey Satan--You Rock", the bitter and menacing "Not in Any Name", the epic, howling closer "Rust" and "Limbo" which knowingly quotes from the Beyond's "Eve of My Release". Also excellent is the hidden track "Never Ending", a despairing pop metal that really should be on the CD proper (you can find it after seven minutes of "Rust"). Fans will find much to enjoy here, but the songwriting is too inconsistent to engage outsiders. Maybe next time
--Dominic Wills
CD Description
Seventh full-length album from Irish rockers Therapy and the follow up to 'Shameless' which was released in 2001. 'HighAnxiety' fuses pure high octane rock with a punk edge and sees the band retaining the big riffs, melodic vocal hooks and frenetic energy for which they are known. Includes the single 'If It Kills Me'.