Another example of
Damon Edge trying to capture that full Chrome spirit on his own -- and not really succeeding. To be fair,
Edge uses more of the true Chrome trappings on this album -- squirrelly guitar noise, weird tones here and there, and so forth. But honestly looked at, this is just
Edge making vaguely spooky modern rock for his own amusement that, compared to Chrome's downright creepy explosions and moods, is mostly vague mid-'80s alternative fodder. Admittedly, part of the problem is one of
Edge's and the post-Creed Chrome's commonest -- everything sounds pretty much the same. Flanged guitar in the background, bass and rhythm keeping the beat but not doing a heck of a lot with it beyond that, low-pitched vocals about either love, weirdness, or both -- the formula rapidly runs dry on
The Wind Is Talking. About the only time it does change is when things go from mediocre to flat-out boring -- why
Edge thought long, repetitive, and slow drum machine loops were the way forward is something perhaps best left unconsidered. Every so often something sounds promising, such as the opening noises and echoes and core rhythmic drone on "Prelude -- The Wind Is Talking." Otherwise, though, it's a drag and a half. One for hypercompletists only. ~ Ned Raggett