Above & Beyond - Common Ground FLAC album

I tend to agree with DEPECHE. Although A&B have been a total blessing for me in my years of need, this album lacks the oomph! of previous releases. I'm disappointed it doesn't include A.I., Surge, Balaeric Balls and a ramped up version of 1001, instead of the gentler 'Is It Love?'. Maybe they'll release a BANGING club version, and attach bonus tracks as mentioned, with club versions of already released singles, and pop in updated versions of Walter White and Mariana Trench (which has had many makeovers according to A&B). Still, a good album. Better than a lot of crap released these days. The opening track does melt me, and nicely merges into My Own Hym. But, another element that irks me is the overuse of the gorgeous Zoë, and more so Richard. For me, they're crescendo was Group Therapy. They made that a killer album. It is nice see Justine and Marty join the fold, but their voices are echoes of Zoë and Richard for me. Fresh gruff, gravelled, raw would be a good avenue to try, in my humble opinion. Don't get me wrong - the music these boys (and girls) produce is astounding to the ear. I'm humbled by most of what they produce, and i can see the way they really do try to bring race, sexuality, beliefs etc together. The titles of the albums themselves advertise this. But, I feel they need a 'Fat Of The Land' or 'Leftism' collection - ground breaking fuck off tunes, to let you lose it for 6-8 minutes at a time. The stuff that brings the hairs up. They are more than capable of it. I always feel their on the verge of it, with Walter White, Mariana Trench and Balaeric Balls.

I agree this is definitely a much more mellow album compared to previous A&B studio albums. I'm kinda thinking that their time working on the "Acoustic" series of their music has taken them towards a less dance oriented sound and towards a more artistic mellow sound. I do love this album to death though. I think its their best since Tri-State, which has always been my favorite A&B album. What I do like a lot about this album is their use of big epic sweeping reverberant synth stabs which was one of their staples during the 2000's that I've missed for a while from their newer stuff.

Totally agree, there are a few weak songs IMO which is a real shame.

too mellow for my taste hope the remixes are more trance EDM Overdone it with his formula. Almost every track sounds the same The same breathy vocal effort from all their collaborators we have been hearing B4