Sparta's third attempt at overcoming the shadow of the Mars Volta, Threes, finds them trapped in mediocrity once again. Unlike the other half of At the Drive-In, however, their problem isn't an insistence on serving nigh on unlistenable progressive rock-its that they seem to have no real sound of their own.
The album passes by like an all-star team of modern rock cliches. You can hear Sparta try to be Coldplay ("Atlas," "False Start") or a diet, emo version of U2 ("Taking Back Control," "Crawl," "Untreatable Disease") just waiting to unleash their completely redundant, "beautiful" chorus upon us.
But maybe that's too harsh. Each one of these songs, on their own, achieves at least a level of decency. U2 lite isn't necessarily a bad thing: the choruses are catchy, the song lengths are adequate, the lyrics don't fall too deeply into self-pity and emo staple.
Some of their more experimental work here succeeds, as well. "Weather the Storm" features some interesting guitar work from new member Keeley Davis and "Translations" closes the album on its highest note, combining a nice drone with some of the best background wailing since Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.
As a whole, however, the album's lack of diversity in sound makes it a chore to sit through. The difference between listening to "Taking Back Control" and "Untreatable Disease" is startlingly small. Also, one can't help but feel the need to listen to the bands Sparta is so desperately trying to be. Why listen to second-rate War-era U2 when you can hear the original?
Overall, they live up to their name. Threes, like time spent in a Spartan military camp, is very repetitive and not a whole lot of fun.
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