Gruff Rhys – Hotel Shampoo

Sorry, pinch of salt

Hey Jim,
Aren't reviews supposed to be taken with a pinch of salt given the inherently subjective nature of opinion?

But anyway, and for the record (boom boom), I did actually listen to this a lot (there are other reviews where this charge would have been fair) as I'm a massive fan of Gruff and all his work. I name-checked certain songs because I thought they gave the best sample of the album's overall flavour…but again, a personal opinion, subject to change. But I didn't say it was a bad album, in fact, as stated above, I consider it 'a joy'. The star rating thing can be awkward at times, I toyed with the four, for whatever that would be worth - the album would remain the same. I just found that, based on familiarity with his work, it didn't take too long to figure out exactly where certain songs were going or how they would be structured. That was the slight disappointment for me, and what led to the rating. It might be unfair to judge him against previous efforts (and my opinion of those efforts) but that's how it panned out. That said, they're still really good songs (the only one I don't care for is Conservation Conversation) and if you like what you've heard so far, it's fair to say you'll like the rest of the album. However, In some cases (e.g. Sophie Softly, Rubble Rubble) it's almost impossible not to discern the distant echoes of Radiator or Mwng. Others (Christopher Columbus, Space Dust 2) come close to a unique 'Gruff' sound, clever and fun to listen to, but somehow (to my mind) seemed to be slightly incomplete ideas.

I'm genuinely curious as to what your thoughts will be when you've listened to the album in full. Feel free to post those thoughts back on here if you like. Nothing wrong with a bit of discussion

Thanks for your detailed reply. You clearly have listened to the album in depth. I do love this album and think that Gruff has put together some beautiful, if simple, arrangements. I certainly agree that conservation conversation is a weak track and I'm fairly indifferent to Sophie Softly as it doesn't really go anywhere. I would say Hotel Shampoo tops candylion (just). I think my only real gripe with the initial review was that it was given the same rating as the Tony Da Gattorra collaboration which in my opinion is truly awful bar a couple of songs! I understand that it was reviewed my someone else, and you are right it is always going to be subjective!