Antennas To Heaven ‘Hermenuetics’ (Corporation Records)

Not everyone is going to like ‘Hermenuetics’. I’m not certain exactly why. Actually I do know why. It is a matter of songwriting. One part of what Antennas To Heaven are doing is great epic pop balladry. But that can only account for less than half the sum of the parts which make up ‘Hermenuetics’. The rest of it goes something like - vast swathes of instrumentalism which avoid overlaying the tunes with too much in the way of effects such as distortion, reverb, delay etc although these are present. Then there’s a bloke talking during parts of the album and I don’t catch exactly everything he says, sort of surreal vignettes of northern life in which even a visit to the local newsagent can prove the start of a bafflingly obtuse series of circumstances. Meanwhile the instrumentation takes definite turn towards actual 80s FM rock, which is different, if little else, and highlights some of the more cinematic elements of the earlier part of the album.

Some people will not like ‘Hermenuetics’. Partly because Antennas To Heaven are a little self consciously ‘clever’ in a way that some people don’t always appreciate. That and their odd resemblances to bands like Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Journey, Toto - just the ballady stuff though, not the power epic motorway anthems which are often associated with US bands of the late 70s/early 80s.

I am going to listen to ‘Hermenuetics’ again. Probably in October.

Jon Gordon

http://www.antennastoheaven.co.uk