It sets expectations high when your debut album essentially serves as your immediate breakthrough, and you've already got a number one hit under your belt. This was the predicament that Cutting Crew found themselves in as they set out to record their sophomore album, The Scattering. However, hardships soon set in as disputes with management ensued.
These problems served to halt the recording process, stalling their momentum, and causing them to not be able to ride the waves of popularity their previous album created. While The Scattering eventually got released in 1989, too much time had passed. New music had come and gone, and Cutting Crew were relatively forgotten at the end of the decade.
Lead single, (Between a) Rock And A Hard Place, did manage to hit the charts in the UK, USA, and Canada, but couldn't crack the top fifty. Its follow-up, Everything But My Pride, fared better on the adult contemporary charts, hitting number four. However, overall, sales were far below expected, and the album as a whole failed to chart.
Upon starting it up and noticing the run time of almost one hour, I immediately felt like this one had suffered from the curse of the CD era. Bloated, for the sake of filling an entire disc, vs. just focusing on a normal length album that had solid tracks.
Year In The Wilderness, and Big Noise turned out to be decent tracks. However, I wouldn't go so far as to say they were shuffle worthy. Truthfully, I don't even remember how the went at this point.
Overall, that was the biggest problem with The Scattering. It was just forgettable. Not bad...just not memorable. There weren't any songs I heard that left me saying, "I need to hear that again." Frankly, by the time it was over, I was just glad to be done with it.
In 1991, both Colin Farley and Martin Beedle left the group, leaving only Nick Van Eede, and Kevin MacMichael to record their 1992 released Compus Mentus. Lost in the shuffle of grunge, it failed to provide any hits, and sales declined even further.
Cutting Crew disbanded in 1993, and MacMichael would sadly pass away in 2002. A year later, Van Eede would form the band, Grinning Souls, and release Capture in 2005. He would decide to re-release the album in 2006 under the Cutting Crew name.
Grinning Souls would essentially become the new lineup of Cutting Crew, and they would release their final album to date, 2015's Add to Favourites. Since then, the band continues to tour, and release compilation albums.
Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.
Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution. |
| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS August 10, 1985 |
