Singles aren’t my usual pick of choice, but since my curiosity got the best of me, I had decided to give this one a shot. It’s better than The Last Time, but as you can guess by the title, Forever Failure also makes it on this album; not once but twice! Fortunately enough, two extra cuts that did not make it on Draconian Times appear here and thus, this makes a decent end of an era.
In terms of musicianship, it shouldn’t be hard to guess what you’re in for and as expected, the most note-worthy roles are those of Greg Macintosh and Nick Holmes. By 1995, Greg Macintosh had already exchanged hooky riffs for a more lead-driven approach and Nick Holmes already hints of things to come; with an entire clean line leading the verse of “Another Desire”, yet his gruff register is still used frequently enough to remind you that this single originates from 1995 and not from 1997.
To me, Forever Failure is all about the two songs that didn’t make it on Draconian Times and interestingly enough, they’re like night and day when compared to each other. “Another Desire” features Nick Holmes at his most introspective so far; alternating between his harsh bellows and gently croons through the somber soundscapes that makes me wonder whether Greg Macintosh hadn’t listened much to The Cure before recording the track. It’s a chilling ballad and it doesn’t deserve to be forgotten. “Fear” rocks hard and has little concern for melancholy; with a fist-pumping rhythm section it’s somewhat comparable to “Once Solemn”, although this track sounds far superior; probably because it doesn’t sound like it was written within 5 minutes. Granted, I could have done without the two versions of ‘”Forever Failure”. One isn’t too different from the version that appears on Draconian Times; only with some loud keys appearing in the background, but the orchestrated version is a piss-poor choice. Come on now; it’s an exaggerated dramatization of an already dramatic track… who the hell thought that was a good idea to begin with?!
With some unnecessary stuff attached, but also with some worthy rarities to boot, Forever Failure makes a decent single. In all honestly, I could only imagine that the determined Paradise Lost fan would have interest in tracing this down though.
Score: 70/100 – Nearly the end of an era
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