Although
the Afterglow formed in the Italian city of Turin, their self-consciously epic form of pop/rock is strictly in the tradition that began with British, Scottish, and Irish bands like
Simple Minds,
Tears for Fears, and
U2 and continues on in
Coldplay,
Muse,
Radiohead, and others, but with little of the craft or personality of those generally superior bands. From the rather pretentious album title onward, this record takes itself so relentlessly seriously that it forgets to have even a hint of old-fashioned rock & roll fun. The over-long songs build to overblown climaxes for singer Dave Timson to over-emote his over-written lyrics on top of, making
Decalogue of Modern Life a tiresome drag to slog through. Factor in the album's faceless production and it's little surprise that
the Afterglow broke up shortly after the album's release: there really didn't seem to be much reason for them to exist. ~ Stewart Mason