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Album Details

• Artist: Clinic
• Album: Winchester Cathedral
• Label: Domino
• Year of Release: 2004
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2004-10-27

I think Clinic had a lot of expectations to live up to with Winchester Cathedral, the band's third full-length album. They received critical acclaim for their first two albums and everyone was waiting to see what they would deliver, where Clinic would move from the amazing Walking With Thee album. I would consider Winchester Cathedral pretty much what people would probably expect, and not much more. The group hasn't really moved anywhere, instead opting for pretty much the same sound that we have come to love about Clinic. Winchester Cathedral opens up with a track that could have easily been tacked on Walking With Thee. It is called "Country Mile" and Ade's voice is comfortably familiar, and remains so throughout the album. On a couple tracks we are given a bit of a Klezmer-style sound with the clarinet taking more of a lead role. As it is Ade's vocals prove once again to be the highlight of Clinic's charm. I really felt that on "Vertical Take Off In Egypt", an instrumental, that the band needs the vocals to make it stand out. While bands sometimes make a career out of the same sort of sound for an entire career, this day and age, people look to bands like Clinic to show them where to go. Winchester Cathedral doesn't achieve that. Instead, we get what could be considered the third part in a trilogy of albums. I'm not saying that it is necessary for a band to reinvent themselves with every album, but a band can only do the same thing for a limited time.

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