Endless Night starts promisingly, but soon loses tempo. It is as if the Weeping Willows are trying to find a more sentimental style than pompous rock, something even less ironic than the '70s Elvis style that inspired the previous album. The result is big orchestrated ballads and even more strings. The production is much clearer than on the debut, but in the process something is lost, namely rock & roll. Without that energy, the sentimentality that made Broken Promise Land a great album makes this a bit soggy. That may also be why there is something cinematic about the album, with stronger atmosphere than melodies. A song like "Stay With Me" seems to search for the lost energy, but then in an unexpected turn transforms into something that sounds like a James Bond theme. There are a few excellent songs on the album though, like "While I'm Still Strong" and "True to You," the latter giving hints of what was to come on the Weeping Willows' next album. But mainly these are the tracks where the band and singer don't hold back, and the Weeping Willows' main quality is their sincere directness. Big orchestration may be a necessary element of their style, but their strength does not lie in brilliant arrangements or unexpected turns. Ending the album is the title track, and here the Weeping Willows are back on track again, but a little late. As the expectations on this album were very high, it entered the charts at number two, but on the whole made far less impact than the debut. ~ Lars Lovén