>This is one of those debatable points, since Supergrass has tried some >different things on each of its first three releases, but I don't think they >had to 'return to form'.  Actually, I find this record to be kind of a step >back.  It took quite a few plays for it to really hit me, as it initially >sounded pretty glib.  Though I enjoy it, I like the last two records better. >  I'd like to see them team with a producer who would demand that carry some >of their ideas (particular their lyrics) to their fullest extent.
Point taken, certainly, but at least from a personal standpoint I thought that "Supergrass" was evidence of a lack of new ideas. Despite some high points it had a lot of filler--something the first two Supergrass records really didn't have--and the songs seemed to be overburdened with a sense of dread, particularly in that fatal slow spot in the middle of the album (around "Shotover Hill"). I took the ensuing 3 year absense as a sign that there was trouble, and found that the way the new album leaps off the speakers--especially on songs like "Seen the Light", "Rush Hour Soul", and "Grace"--in ways that the last one never did. Yeah, it's true that this is the first time they didn't take a significant step forward and it certainly finds them--at least to an extent--revisiting some old ideas. But I felt that the songwriting was generally tighter and that it plays better as an album, and I personally enjoy it a lot more than the last one.
I also agree that it would be nice to see a producer really push them--I think every Supergrass album since the first one was begging to be taken one step further, and this one is no different. With such a push they could easily join the ranks of bands like XTC that pump out innovative masterpiece after innovative masterpiece; I think right now they're just a sliver below that level.--Jason