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MP4 (Days Since A Lost Time Ac
02/01/2000 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Mike Lipton
Like spouse Aimee Mann, singer-songwriter and sometimes actor Michael Penn has
never been able to match the success of his debut disc. It's been nearly
three years since he released Resigned (which, despite some quality
tunes, fell like a stone), but, taking a cue from Mann (whose soundtrack to
the film Magnolia has revived her career), Penn is poised to take another
wack at it. His latest features the same kind of songcraft--medium-to-big-production pop with a decidedly English slant.
"Lucky One," produced by Brendan O'Brien (the only track not produced by
Penn) is "vintage" Penn--a somewhat-dated Beatlesque
millennium lament
dressed up with more grandiose bells and whistles than necessary. Penn
actually fares better when he's turning the knobs and ISO something a bit
more tangible--like truth. While "Whole Truth" sports even more Mop Top
influence, the tune has a much warmer feel and the parts are integrated
much more sensibly.
Ultimately, Penn's fatal flaw may be his consistency.
Even though tunes like the intricately woven "Perfect Candidate" (featuring
Mann on back-ups) and the punchy pop of "Out of Misery" make MP4 his
finest effort to date, it's likely to get lost in the shuffle because he
still sounds, well, too much like Michael Penn.
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