These are interesting and honest thoughts. I agree very much that Miracle Mile is a gem of a soundtrack album. It has mood, great melodies, and a real sense of two musicians working beautifully together. Also the music is rather poignant if one has actually watched the great film directed by Bobby Roth.Network23 wrote:The best result of the Froese-Haslinger tandem is Miracle Mile. If it had been released as a non-soundtrack album, it would be regarded as a classic on the level of Underwater Sunlight. For some reason, it doesn't get enough mention.
When Jerome joined, something happened. I'm afraid the music was not of the same quality on Melrose, Rockoon and especially Turn of the Tides.
Melrose bestowed a discernible placidity, a lack of an edge. It had a very contempo flair, and while that wouldn't necessarily make it a less than memorable album, the chord progressions and sequences weren't very interesting. Paul definitely had one foot out the door, with his ticket punched and ready to fly to California. I wouldn't be surprised if Paul wasn't on some of the Melrose tracks. "Electric Lion" was one of the first things to turn me off about the "new" sound.
I do not dislike Melrose, but it did seem at the time it came out to have rather less sparkle, let's say, than Lily on the Beach and Optical Race. There is a softness about that album in places, an uneven quality...still, the best tracks on the album remain inspiring today. I always loved Dolls in the Shadow, for instance.