Whenever Neil Hannon comes out with an album, one is usually treated to clever, catchy pop tunes full of massive orchestral arrangements with humorous, witty lyrics not heard since the days of Noel Coward or Cole Porter. On all DC's prior albums, that was the case. On Regeneration, Hannon takes a step in another direction while not abandoning his roots. The massive arrangements are abandoned in favor of a little bit more experimental production ala Radiohead (note: the producer's the same), but the witty lyrics and pop hooks are still in tact. Songs like Perfect Lovesong illustrate this with such where he writes of writing a song "with a divine beatles bassline and a big ol' beach boys smile." Other highlights inlclude Bad Ambassador, which may not be a far cry from Fin De Siecle's "Thrillseeker," and the album's finale, "The Beauty Regime." It's a shame this album will probably not see the light of day in the US, as Hannon's songwriting is very much at its peak.

Let me be out front about this. I liked the Divine Comedy just the way they were. The sly lyrics and percolating pop of "Casanova," for instance, was precisely my cup of tea. And I really liked it when Neil Hannon played Noel Coward to Ute Lemper's Gertrude Lawrence on the latter's "Punishing Kiss," on which the pair perform two duets and Lemper solos on yet another of Hannon's compositions. Neil Hannon is a witty guy who also happens to be an acute social critic. None of this has changed. I like "Regeneration" precisely because it puts Hannon's acid wit and killer sense of irony on display, as on "Dumb It Down," without forgetting his `60s pop roots ("Perfect Love Song" is perfectly named). But the album does seem to take the music a step further onto the dark side, and I think I know why. On "Punishing Kiss" Scott Walker produced "Scope J" for Ute Lemper. That Neil Hannon listened and learned should not surprise anyone. After all, many have noted his indebtedness to Walker's vocals; now a case may be made that he's gone back and studied Walker's music as well. Play "Note to Self," for instance, and then listen to "Scope J." The musical atmosphere is uncannily similar without being imitative. Then go back and listen to "Tilt," Walker's last solo album. The lushness of the arrangements, the frequent reliance on strings for emotive effect, the abstract but strangely suggestive lyrics-all presage Hannon's metamorphosis on "Regeneration" (note the sonics on the title song in particular). However, whatever their sources, the songs here--and who could not relate to the lover's despair on "Lost Property?"--remain much more accessible, not to mention playful, than anything on "Tilt" and are bound to find a larger audience. They deserve to.

Neil Hannon and The Divine Comedy are one of those few bands who have never put a foot wrong. Most bands have made one or two dud albums, but these guys have not failed me yet. This record is no exception. My personal favourites are Mastermind, Lost Property and Perfect Lovesong. Highly recommended.

With their last proper album being called "Fin De Seicle" and the new album called "Regeneration",The Divine Comedy must surely win awards for apt album titles.After the release of "The Best Of..." album,Neil Hannon realised he'd taken that aprticular stlye of Noel Coward influenced,fully orchestrated pop to it's limits.This album is a great departure from that type of music and is a very brave step.ultimately it's a step I think they manage to carry off quite well.

The new sound see's Hannon backed by a conventional six piece band.Conventional in that they play rock music.The sounds of the orcherstra are still to be heard,especially on the initial tracks.It's almost like he tries to break us in gently to the new sound of Divine Comedy.Songs like track 3 "Perfect Love Song" could easily have fitted on the c.d. "Casanova",with it's poppy retro Beach Boys sound and clever witty lyrics.By the time we get to the 4th song the mood,tone and sound of this c.d. changes.The c.d. is produced by Nigel Godrich of Radiohead fame-and his influence becomes more evident in the rest of the tracks.The arrangements in these songs are scaled down to far simpler forms.The mood of the lyrics are far darker.It becomes a conventional alt/rock album.The songs go from being 3 minute pop tunes to being 5/6 minute songs,that are far less commercial. Unlike many albums these days I think the second half of the c.d. is much better then the first.Songs like "Eye Of The Needle" have a stark Kid A feel to them.In fact for me songs 6,7,8, are the highlight of this c.d."Love What You Do" is the first single and starts off with the words 'Living isn't easy'-this will tell you something about the mood of this song.Great rhythm to this song and keyboards of all sorts are the dominant instrument here.The next song sounds like it could have been taken off "The Bends" c.d.It's a slow song with a quiet acoustic feel.The next song starts of with a bit of blues/folk acoustic-the change between this song and the songs at the start of this c.d. is startling.Piano and strings gently accompany the chorus line.The only thing I wonder about this whole new sound is Hannon's voice.He has a very distinctive voice and one which is associated with a particular type of song.It takes a while to get used to the fact that he's now singing emotional alt rock-and I'm not sure if his voice is strong enough to carry this off.

The songs get more and more low key and slower as the c.d. progresses.By the end it's almost going at snail's pace.This is a very brave move by any band to radically alter their sound quite so dramatically.This total change I feel is worth one extra star alone-the fact that they carry it off quite well also helps a great deal.

the back cover band photograph worried me when i first picked up this cd in the record store. the band were not dressed in their usual designer suits and italian shoes; they had on (gasp) jeans and leather jackets. uh-oh...something's not right. this is The Divine Comedy, right? i slipped the cd into my car stereo and held my breath. the first song began..."ok," i thought " some new production values that we have never seen Neil use before...more emphasis on acoustic guitar and some electronic atmosphere smeared around the edges..not terribly horrible, i guess." next was "Bad Ambassador" & "Perfect Lovesong" which were two really great little songs that seemed to capture the spirit of the Divine Comedy that i knew and loved. but there was still something not quite right; i just couldn't put my finger on it. i continued to drive around as the remaining tracks played out, and i just grew more and more depressed while listening to it. the songs had no life, no spark. where was the outragous pomp and smug charm of the old Neil Hannon? and what happened to his sense of humour? it sounded like all the charm of the band had been sucked out to create a "we're in our Radiohead phase" kind of album. groan. "another one bites the dust," i thought. and shelved the album, saddened by the fall of a great songwriter.

but i ended up giving it another shot...and then a new song stuck out to me this time: the haunting "Eye Of The Needle." i wasn't completely sold, though. but when i took it out days later for another spin, i was surprised to find another tune had crept up on me. the cycle went on like this until i finally gave in and decided that Regeneration wasn't all that bad after all. although it has it's share of really bad songs that i have to skip ("Note To Self" & "The Beauty Regime."), i know can appreciate the album as a whole. it's a new approach to making an album and writing songs than they've done on any other of their albums. i miss the charm and i miss the humor and i miss the big brass shuffle of some of the older material. but i can respect this new direction. also, since this album was delayed to be released in america (where i was living at the time) i had to buy the japanese import version which contains some of the album's strongest tracks: "Edward The Confessor" and the absolutley brilliant Beatles worship of "Soul Trader." it might have been an easier adjustment for me (and other listeners) if these songs would have found it's way onto the proper album release. but oh well....