THE NINE DREAMLAND ALBUM A DIFFERENT DRUM, ENERGY RELEASE: JUNE, 2001 REVIEW: JUNE 26, 2001

"Breeze" is the only fragment of greatness left. It's their best track to date, still The Nine insist on wrecking all the other tracks with unsettling rock'n'roll atmospheres. An enigma on par with that of the Bermuda triangle.
"Dreamland" wrestle with some of the same problems as "Native Anger" did. But what was only vague trends on the debut have now sprung into exaggeration. The guitars, or guitar samples, smother too much of the supposedly smart electronics hovering in the background. With the emphasis put on broken trust, broken hearts and broken minds in the lyrics and the somewhat misplaced guitar riffs "Dreamland" ends up a tired cliché.
Geoff Pinckney, singer and songwriter of The Nine, still has the thoroughly sought after fingertip touch when it comes to writing strong songs and clever choruses. But he needs to make a critical decision. Is the Nine an industrial or a pop band? The present mixture of elements of the two just doesn't seem to go together.

NIKLAS FORSBERG