For those of you who thought two versions of "The Drugs Don't Work" were not enough, this single has the album version of the song. This second single also has a
James Lavelle remix of "Bittersweet Symphony," which offers something the album version does not: a danceable beat. Stripped of its looped three-chord string arrangement,
Richard Ashcroft's vocals ride along on a typical
Verve bass groove, drum loops, and sparse ectoplasmic guitar fills. The strings do eventually make an appearance, but not until near the end of the song and this time they do not obscure the groove. "The Crab" sounds like a slower and bleaker version of
Radiohead's "Karma Police," with ghostly slide work and shards of piano creating a gothic backdrop for
Ashcroft's dark vocals and beat-to-hell acoustic strumming. "Stamped" is a paranoid, claustrophobic rocker. Guitars buzz and rage over an otherworldly bassline and
Can-influenced drums drop out and then come roaring back in. All the while
Richard Ashcroft shouts about "living a bad dream" through layers of reverb. This single is definitely not uplifting, but offers better music than its companion single.
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Brian Horgea, Rovi