The Men

Album review

The Men should've named themselves Jekyll & Hyde. The group juggles two personalities on its self-titled debut album. On songs such as "Easy Target," "I Built My House This Way," and "Where You Found Me," the Men aim for the melodic guitar pop of Crowded House and the Rembrandts; however, there's another side to the band, an AOR-lovin' monstrosity that appears on "She's All Mine," "The Brotherhood," and "Cry." While the Men's versatility is worth applauding, they're unable to execute both styles, leaving the record seriously unbalanced. The enigmatic "Church of Logic, Sin & Love" attracted the group the most attention in the early '90s for its beatnik narrative. The lyrics of "Church of Logic, Sin & Love" don't make much sense, but its poetic imagery -- "The sun was starting to set/It made the sky look red like a nuclear ray" -- vividly unreels in the mind. The rest of the album is more straightforward. Unfortunately, the Men's attempts at mainstream rock weaken the LP. "Cry" is barely listenable; its generic power chords don't belong on the album, and anybody who buys The Men on the creative strengths of "Church of Logic, Sin & Love" will wonder if an uncredited band finished the record. In "Church of Logic, Sin & Love," vocalist Jef Scott sings about seeing "the thing." "The thing" could be used to describe the Men's far less strange other half, the one that isn't worth hearing.
© Michael Sutton /TiVo