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The Feelers: Playground Battle

Album number three from the feelers is a muscular, riff laden piece of work that has a very mainstream rock flavour to it and is probably their loudest record to date. A military theme seems to pervade proceedings, most notably in the album title. Cover art and song titles appear to be used as a metaphor for life, love and relationships. It's a concept that works to a degree with the best results being the songs that don't rely on the big rock moves and earnest delivery. But when the band allows the guitars to chime and the melodies to rise to the top, it lets their pop sensibilities take over, reinforcing the feeling that they make a better pop/rock band than a hard rock outfit. All of which makes for an uneven album, although it has its moments, most notably on the title track with its mid tempo pop/rock, while the semi acoustic Emotional Allstar and closing ballad Stand Up provide a welcome contrast to the beefed up guitars and hard rock riffs.

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