Limbo

excellent well worth the buy.

One of the best Muses efforts. Lead singer Kristin Hersch is strident and lucid, and the music is constantly fascinating,

It's quitte difficult to convince someone today how important have the Throwing Muses been for rock - female and in general - throughout the 80's and the early 90's when never did important numbers of people buy their albums . Still , one could say it was meant to be that way and they were destined to become a cult secret between eclectic music listeners , all fascinated by dark things . Maybe then it's because of the fact that their music initially needs some extra energy and patience to get into . Occasional cd buyers who help Bon Jovi and Lenny Kravitz conquer the charts every now and then or people who listen music once in a while , during a ride in the car simply won't get what this band is about . Downloading isolated tracks for the internet simply won't do either . You have to buy their stuff , study them . Once you see the whole picture though you'll instantly get hooked .Limbo now , is actually album number eight for the Boston band . Kristin Hersh had nothing to prove to nobody . Childhood friend David Narcizo was still on the drums sit . Ex guitarist Tanya Donelly was preparing for the release of her first solo album . Bassists Leslie Langston and Fred Abong had deceided to continue their lives outside the music business long time ago . Bernand Georges was now playing the four-chord instrument . In past efforts the Muses combined that sense of madness that had always been their trademark with power ( " University " ) , sorrow ( " Hunkpapa " ) and ethereal nature ( " The Real Ramona " ) . On Limbo they sound plain schizophrenic .Many fans who adore them will simply be satisfied by watching Hersh , a strangely happy woman perfoming a grey, unhappy rock song in the video clip of " Ruthie's Knocking " . " Tango " ' s lyrical agenda ( " thank you for chaining me into bed / that was sweet " ) and cold , impersonal vocals are indicative of the record's mood . Not that the energy is not once again here and there are many good ideas to notice ( you would never have imagined how well a cello could fit in a rock tune like " Buzz " ) . You can tell that the songwritting is strong and that there's something special in there but often , it's simply unpleasant listening .In conlusion , " Limbo " suffers from the same things which made Belly's " King " so problematic in the first place : it deserves respect for sounding messy by choice and carries the power of the mysterious personallity behind it but lacks the overall power to make it matter outside the artist's fanbase

I have every album Kristin Hersh ever made (and thats a lot) including 50 foot wave stuff which is superb, however Limbo is my favorite by a mile with its amazingly catchy tunes wonderfully produced (something that has let some of the earlier albums down) similar in style to university only a little rockier. Ignore the reviewers who only gave 3 stars they obviously dont appreciate a polished sound, I assure you if you buy this you will not be dissapointed and will not be able to stop playing it. No fillers here just pure powerpop at its best.

Having purchased and treasured every Throwing Muses (and Kristin Hersh) album that's out there i'm amazed that this has polarised opinion. To me it's the best stuff they've ever done and Kristin has never sounded so open and clear lyrically. As for the production - it's crisp, unfussy and pitched beautifully. If I was going to introduce someone to the band, this is the album I'd play them; it's in Pixies territory quality and resonance wise and not a weak track amongst them. If I could only play one album for the rest of my life this would edge out even Doolittle in my opinion.

A tad patchy in places but consistent in comparison to Hunkpapa. I'm a complete sucker for Serene.Highlight: Serene

For some reason this album seems to leave a bitter taste in many people mouth, I truely cannot understand why. This album is a mix between "University" and the best of Kristen Hersh's solo work, the mixture of powerful rock riffs from "Ruthie's Knocking" and sheer starkness and beauty of "Serene" is ultimately a joy to listen to. I was hesitant on buying this album because of the negative reviews, but if you like the Muses you WILL like this album!

Anyone wanting to experience the magic that Throwing Muses can offer should stay way clear of this record. The band is on auto-pilot, offering little of the edge and sparkle given on previous releases.Admittedly there are a couple of great songs (Limbo, Serene and Shark) stand out but overall it's an un-involving and dull affair, not helped by the soft production.The key fault though here is that the band on Limbo just doesn't sound like Throwing Muses.