Burt Bacharach has been a musical icon for so long, you might assume he'd done everything there is to do. But no - it turns out that the 77-year-old composer has never written any political songs, and the crimes of the Bush administraion have angered him so much, he's decided that he just can't stay silent any more. Unfortunately, the king of easy listening turns out to a bit more ham-fisted when it comes to producing anti-war polemics, even if he has got his friends Dr Dre and Elvis Costello on board to provide a bit of street cred. Riddled with too many forgettable instrumentals and ersatz muzak, At This Time contains echoes of Bacharach's former glories, but that's all they are - echoes. It's a brave experiment, and he deserves credit for trying something new. It just hasn't come off very well.

Your Comments

No comments have been posted for this article yet. Be the first!