Diorama

08/06/2002 9:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Rob O'Connor

When he was younger, Silverchair's Daniel Johns wanted what most kids his age wanted, and that was to be like the biggest rocker of his day. Johns, however, bared a slight resemblance to the biggest rocker of his day, Kurt Cobain, and was therefore plucked from his tidy environs of Australia and sent around the world to play his teenaged version of the band he loved the best. Silverchair was a surprising success. But while their abilities to emulate their heroes were startling for kids so young, it was still just that: emulation.

With years of added wisdom and maturity, Silverchair has learned how to do much more. The band's pop songs now glide ("Luv Your Life" and "Too Much Of Not Enough"). Johns doesn't need to scream in angst, but can whisper his lyrics with grace and subtlety (he sounds like Elliott Smith when he does this.) Legendary and unpredictable producer/arranger Van Dyke Parks adds strings for texture. Now, if they eliminate the obligatory "grunge" efforts, they'll finally be the band they were meant to be all along.