2x****
Another meditation on changing life in England, "20th Century Man" finds a parallel in its predecessor, "Victoria", and while ambitious, substitutes a lazy blues shuffle for the snappy riffs, and lacks the energy by a long shot until a break near the end. "Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues" is like a drunk cover of late-60's Faces or Stones. "Holiday" is an even lamer stumbling swing. Finally "Skin And Bone"****, while similarly stylized, does have riffs and some catchy off-time phrasing with the song's main line that gives me bring the listener back. "Alcohol" has an eastern/gypsy-cabaret flavor that matches the subject nicely. The exploration of American styles is far from monotonous, and sometimes the silliness works as in the sarcastic, southern/Dixie "Have A Cuppa Tea" (with hilariously off-handed line "for chris-sake have a cuppa tea"). But the stylization feels substituted for brilliant earlier songwriting, and closing "Muswell Hillbilly" is a less-catchy sibling of Aurthur's closing track, but the remaining tracks (minus contemplative ballad "Oklahoma U.S.A.") are middling anglicized blues. Bonus track "Kentucky Moon"**** is uniquely subtle and difficult to categorize as blues or rock, but has a familairity the comes on slowly. "Mountain Woman", the other bonus track, is similar to "Ape Man".
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