14.

Therapy?
One Cure Fits All

This placing is a bit low for the mighty Therapy? Two reasons: firstly, this year the albums are so good, blah blah. The second: this is the worst Therapy? release for five years or more. There are snapshots of utter genius, placed here and there just to, I suppose, remind us (or, at least me; does anyone else still pay any attention to them?) that Therapy? have been the most consistently good rock band of the last 15 years. Opener ‘Sprung’ is classic Therapy? and paves the way for an album to rival their numerous classics. Sadly, One Cure Fits All never quite meets its targets. 2004’s Never Apologise, Never Explain, for example, spat fire. This album is cut from the same musical cloth, but it simply doesn’t share that fervour. It has plenty of good songs, and still (again, in a top year) achieves a respectable position in the top 15 on pure merit. But, a year ago, I would have expected this album to make top 5 as a minimum, so it has to be classed as a disappointment. Single ‘Rain Hits Concrete’ is bloody brilliant, but I have a feeling that in a few years time, it will be the only track from here that anyone would remember, and the only one Therapy? would even consider playing live. Plus, ‘Heartbreak Hits’ is the most rubbish Therapy? tune since 1988. Utterly brilliant, of course (it is a Therapy? album, after all), but they can do so much better.