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Most of this album is much more club oriented than their previous material. Stronger, faster, darker beats grace most of the songs, and there is less guitar overall. It seems Real Life tried to catch a little of the New Wave mainstream here. It was a niche market, even then, but it is successful. Overall, this cd is the best they did up to this point, with fewer "filler" tracks and many more that are memorable. "God Tonight" is the first song, and it was a substantial club hit. The more frenetic pace and darker lyrics pretty much summ up the changes Real Life went through to produce this cd. "Kiss the Ground" isn't quite as dark, although it is just as "dancey" and has clever lyrics to boot -- a good combination. Continuing the trend even further is "5-4-3-2-1" which sounds almost like a techno song rather than a synthpop one. After this Real Life slows it up a bit with "Rescue Me", not exactly a slow song, and featuring more guitar than pretty much any other song on the album. It's not nearly as memorable as most of the other songs here. The next three are, in my opinion, the best three on the cd. "Sister Sister" has really odd lyrics that kinda scared me at first, frankly. Whether or not they're talking about incest or seducing a nun, or something else entirely, it's still strange. However, the great sounds won me over. "Push of Love" is much more "dance new wave" and pretty much epitomizes that genre. This is a long version, more suited to a 12" extended remix kinda thing, but it's still a really good song, and it doesn't get old. "Torture To Me" is more upbeat (despite the title!) and is one of the fun/love songs with a dancey beat. In fact, it's pretty much the last peppy song Real Life did, since their next cd is even darker than this one, crossing almost into the industrial scene at times. I guess it had to happen eventually. "Let's Start a Fire" and the following "Do It Again" are good enough songs, but by far the least interesting on the cd. Filler material. But Real Life finished up with a bang, "Lifetime" is one of the best songs on the cd. It starts out with cricket sounds and a slow beat, but starting with the chorus, it picks energy up quickly. The song ends on a beautiful coda with sweeping synthlines and orchestral touches.
Overall, this was Real Life's strongest release to date. Although it grew a little repetitive at times, Real Life was never bad, and even the filler tracks would be good tracks on the cd of a lesser band. About half of the tracks are truly marvelous and include some hits and some "sleepers" that suprise you with their rich texture and great lyrics.
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