The Namesake

Following the death of Paul Young and the departure of Paul Carrack, Mike + the Mechanics' only original member, Mike Rutherford, returns with a brand-new lineup for The Road, their first studio album since 2004's Rewired. Perhaps indicative of the talents of their two former vocalists, the former Genesis guitarist has brought in three different frontmen to fill their shoes: Canadian performer Tim Howar, who played Rod Stewart in the musical Tonight's the Night; South African singer/songwriter Arno Carstens, who left during its recording to pursue his solo career; and, most famously, Andrew Roachford, who scored several hits in the late '80s/early '90s with his funk-rock band namesake…

As befits their namesake, the Ocean think big. This album is the second half of a two-disc set; the first half, Heliocentric, was released at the beginning of 2010, with this disc finishing out the year. These two discs succeed a two-CD set, Precambrian, released in 2007. Each of these (each Ocean record, really) is a sit-down-with-the-lyric-sheet-and-ponder experience; it's possible to just let the loud guitars and thundering drums wash over you, as you would with, say, High on Fire, but that's so clearly not what the band wants to happen that Anthropocentric ceases to be cathartic, like all the best metal, and starts to feel like homework. That's not to say that the band doesn't rock. "The Grand Inquisitor II: Roots & Locusts" has a headlong fury that's reminiscent of the Mars Volta at times, and the title track is a near-ten-minute stomp, like Isis crossed with the early-'90s hardcore band Judge…

As befits their namesake, the Ocean think big. This album is the second half of a two-disc set; the first half, Heliocentric, was released at the beginning of 2010, with this disc finishing out the year. These two discs succeed a two-CD set, Precambrian, released in 2007. Each of these (each Ocean record, really) is a sit-down-with-the-lyric-sheet-and-ponder experience; it's possible to just let the loud guitars and thundering drums wash over you, as you would with, say, High on Fire, but that's so clearly not what the band wants to happen that Anthropocentric ceases to be cathartic, like all the best metal, and starts to feel like homework. That's not to say that the band doesn't rock. "The Grand Inquisitor II: Roots & Locusts" has a headlong fury that's reminiscent of the Mars Volta at times, and the title track is a near-ten-minute stomp, like Isis crossed with the early-'90s hardcore band Judge…