The View - Bread And Circuses [Album Review]

Click here or read below for my album review of Bread And Circuses by The View. It was published on Pure Grain Audio.

Rating: 6/10

The View were heralded as the "next big thing" back in 2007 when the Scots released their debut album, Hats Off To The Buskers. The record shot to number one in the British album chart and the singles faired well too. Twenty-five months later their sophomore effort Which Bitch? was unveiled and it was invariably a flop. Alcohol and booze had began to rule the band and consequently the music suffered.

The View made a conscious decision to start putting the music first again and started working on album number three, Bread And Circuses. The result is a superior effort to Which Bitch?, but the band still appear to be lacking a bit of real class. "Tragic Magic", "Friend", "Blondie" and "Sunday" all contain infectious melodies and typical surf-rock harmonies, but fighting through the surrounding nine worthless songs is irritating.

With Bread And Circuses chart success even further down on Which Bitch? it becomes apparent that The View have failed to claw back the fans they lost after their second record. At this rate it will not be long before they disappear into indie obscurity alongside The Automatic and The Enemy.

written by Will Lyon

Run Time: 50:10
Release Date: March 22, 2011

Track Listing:

01. Grace
02. Underneath The Lights
03. Tragic Magic
04. Girl
05. Life
06. Friend
07. Beautiful
08. Blondie
09. Sunday
10. Walls
11. Happy
12. Best Lasts Forever
13. Witches

Check out the song: "Grace"