MAN WITH A MISSION - 'Chasing The Horizon' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. 2045

2. Broken People

3. Winding Road

4. Hey Now

5. Please Forgive Me

Man With A Mission

6. Take Me Under

7. Freak It! (feat. Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra)

8. Break The Contradictions

9. My Hero

10. Dead End In Tokyo

11. Chasing The Horizon

12. Find You

13. Dog Days

14. Sleepwalkers

Hmmmmm, feeling a touch of Apes, Pigs & Spacemen about this. Doesn’t necessarily sound like them but definitely a similar vibe. Punchy opening track, Rap/Rock behemoth that is '2045'.

'Broken People' then, second track in and do they maintain their opening promise? Well, no! Sorry guys but you sound too much like those whiney American “Emo” singers.

'Chasing The Horizon' is MAN WITH A MISSION fifth album (It’s my first listen to them). I must admit I have just googled them to find out a bit more and I’m sad to say I am sorely disappointed. I hate gimmicky bands and this lot seem to be just that! As soon as I saw the phrase “Japanese wolf-musicians” I felt my skin crawl.

Okay so maybe 'Broken People' is not indicative of the rest of the album thankfully. I’m getting Babymetal, Faith No More at times, but a copy that has been copied too many times. I’m up to track four “Hey Now” and already I’m pretty bored, I can feel a skimming through the rest of the album feeling coming on, oh dear!

MAN WITH A MISSION are trying to be too many things, the album is almost schizophrenic in its constantly changing genres, each song however is drawn together sadly but an over produced beat that makes it all feel so plastic! The whole album feels so fake, produced to within an inch of its life. It’s just too polished, all the life seems to have been sucked out of it. Its overdramatic in places to a laughable degree.

'Freak It' sees the band trying their hand at Funk, they fail. Its just too formulaic to work.

I’ll admit it, I’m skimming! I’m bored with it, there is absolutely nothing to catch the listeners attention. 'Dead End In Tokyo' has gone as far as annoying me! Title track 'Chasing The Horizon' is just bland! Find you is doing its Snow Patrol thing, badly.

Please just make this stop now. No, that’s it I can’t make it to the end, I just can’t! All in it may just be I’m not MAN WITH A MISSION target audience, not sure who is though. Bland, boring, sanitized stadium twaddle I’m afraid.