Elsewhere, we find the gentle piano and soft cushion of synthesized keyboards of "Union Man," utterly resigned in attitude, in which the failure of a workers' uprising is as predictable as the coming of the spring rain. Starrs, and co-writers Alan Brain and Peter Allerhand never glorify, as other, less mature outfits might (U2 come to mind). They merely observe. "The Conqueror" is a scathing attack against female domesticity: "'Let's go get married'/Is that all I hear you say?/There's a conqueror here I have to slay." On an album of masterpieces, this track may be the most masterful of all. The tempo has been slowed, giving Starrs time to milk every note of all its energy, as he seethes with anger and inner turmoil. 

By album's end, after eight overwhelming minutes of shame and personal wreckage in "Until I Hold Her," ("There's nothing that I can do until I hold her/And you must never tell her that I told you"), a musical equivalent of the destruction scene in Citizen Kane, the listener is exhausted, drained, but still hoping for more. Unfortunately, there is no more. INTERVIEW died as quietly as they arrived, and no one even showed up for the funeral. MORE >