Savage Garden still sappy

Savage Garden claims, "I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you." And I believe that people may like this album because it's so satisfyingly cheesy.

From the first strains and heart-felt croons of the single "I Knew I Loved You," to the constant "I Believes" in "Affirmation", listeners know they're in for a heavy dose of sappy love songs and soothing romantic rhymes.

Sappy doesn't mean bad and this album is good at what it sets out to do - put listeners in a come-hither, love is so hard, but it's all we have, kind of a mood.

When Darren and Daniel stray from the path of comfortable love songs though, they run into dangerous territory - the territory of already been done and done better.

Tracks like "The Best Thing" have bad synthesised drums that are so tacky they make your ears bleed. Stick to the sap boys. During "The Best Thing" they claim they'll "walk on broken glass" and "make their way through fire" for love, but I'd make my way out of the room to avoid this song.

"Chained to You", is another "rock" attempt. News flash boys, Michael Jackson's already done this in his early days, and he had the moonwalk. Darren and Daniel should stay away from songs like this until they patent a new backwards dance move.

The horror of the synthesised drums is redeemed with softer, melodic tracks like "Two Beds And A Coffee Machine" a depressing song that uses beautiful piano and stings to round out the lyrics. "I Don't Know You Anymore" is another melancholy love song that's pleasant to listen to and worth surviving through "Chained To You" for.

This album is so wistfully romantic it almost sounds like it comes from another time.

It would be a perfect soundtrack for an 80's teen-angst movie. It's not peppy enough to play behind a perky Jennifer Love Hewitt or Melissa Joan Hart but it would sound great behind Molly Ringwald or Judd Nelson.

Walk to the dusty section of your local video store, wipe off a copy of Pretty in Pink or Some Kind of Wonderful and you'll find the perfect setting for Savage Garden's "Affirmation".

Track Listing 1. Affirmation 2. Hold Me 3. I Knew I Loved You 4. The Best Thing 5. Crash And Burn 6. Chained To You 7. The Animal Song 8. The Lover After Me 9. Two Beds And A Coffee Machine 10. You Can Still Be Free 11. Gunning Down Romance 12. I Don't Know You Anymore		Album rating Rate Affirmation (0-5) 0 1 2 3 4 5 The results so far