Title Of Record

08/24/1999 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Rob O'Connor

With an Abbott & Costello comedy routine album title ("What's the title of the record?" "Title Of Record." "That's what I'm asking you. What's the title of the record?"), Filter return after four years. In which amount of time, children have become teenagers, teenagers have become college students, and college students have learned to busk for change.

Filter's Richard Patrick has also grown. He's gotten rid of his old friend and programmer Brian Liesegang, and in true fascist style has fashioned a sound completely from his own head. Sure, he lets other guys play on the album, but ask yourself: if a big, gruesome guy put a gun to your head and asked you what you wanted to play, what would you play? Exactly.

At 70 minutes, this is a mammoth undertaking and it's Patrick's ability to fashion a melody out of chaos that makes this the, uh, pardon the expression, Triumph Of The Will that it is.