The Scattering

By the time Cutting Crew released their second album in 1989, they were viewed as irrelevant by both critics — who always despised them anyway — and the fickle public that elevated "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" and "I've Been in Love Before" onto the pop charts two years earlier. The cold shoulders which welcomed The Scattering were most likely due to the lack of immediately catchy songs; nevertheless, while The Scattering doesn't have ear candy like the band's hit singles, the music is less-blatantly commercial and more personal. It's still slick stuff — big '80s synthesizers, glossy FM radio guitars, in-your-face drums — but Nick VanEede's vocals have a frosty glow that creates a mood and sustains interest. (The resemblance of his voice to Rob Dickinson's of Catherine Wheel has yet to be acknowledged.) "Big Noise" and "(Between A) Rock and a Hard Place" aren't as heavy as their titles suggest; however, they sound great on the highway, as guitarist Kevin Macmichael lets it rip without pounding the listener into submission — something the grunge groups who permanently jettisoned bands such as Cutting Crew from AOR stations in the '90s enjoyed doing. The Scattering will probably seem dated to anyone who isn't an '80s enthusiast, but it's tasty nostalgia for people who remember the decade fondly. Cutting Crew were obviously infatuated with the arena-sized riffs of U2 and Big Country, and while the group doesn't reach those bands' creative heights, hook-packed material such as "Everything but My Pride" and "Tip of Your Tongue" finds them walking tall.