Originally panned by critics, namely the majority of the solar system, Water has found a small cult following on the planet Earth where some of its biggest fanatics, “humans” as they like to call themselves, act as though Water is the be-all end-all of liquids. While Water has brought about some hits in its time — “Flood,” “Hurricane,” and “Tidal Wave” to name a few — but what has it truly accomplished in all this years? Why revisit Water and their only album “Drought” all these years after its release? Sure, Water has inspired some absolutely breathtaking art, namely “Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls” by Earth group TLC, but what has Water been capable of on its own?
Some of its minor hits, “The Mississippi River” and “Niagara Falls” do attract some interest in Water, but for the most part are played out. Who really cares about these anymore? They were impressive in their early days, but their music has not aged very well. These hits impressed a brief bit of wonder upon release but they are ultimately shallow efforts. More often than not the listener will find themselves tuning out and wondering when it will be over. Even major hits for Water like “The Pacific” and “The Atlantic,” which when first released sent waves through the world, got old quickly. They are large, gaudy and quite honestly tedious, even to the biggest Water fans, who themselves tend to sail over these when looking at Water’s collected works.
Then there is what I personally consider Water’s most overrated work, a collaborative project known as “Life.” Sure it’s interesting, but it’s being going for so long with very little result. This one seems to be the big pull for the humans and the biggest contributor to the cult status of Water. Looking at it objectively, though, “Life” really just goes on for too long and more often than not is just aimless and not worth the listen after the initial novelty of the concept wears off. Fans of Water like to regard this as their magnum opus and I suppose in some ways they are right. Conceptually it’s a bold piece of work, but the praise I have for it ends there. If Water had spent more time working on this piece instead of sort of letting it happen naturally then the end result may have been more satisfying. But as it stands, the overall lack of effort on “Life” simply makes it an interesting concept.
Overall, Water has found its niche audience and I can respect that. Personally this reviewer does not understand the appeal and I believe I am not alone in this sentiment. Water may still have some time ahead of it to be able to take some of the concepts it hints at somewhere. If Water makes some legitimately deep work in the future I would not be surprised, but at the moment all of their releases to date have come up dry.
Rating: 2 stars
