High Anxiety
Malingering somewhere between the political and the comic, the punky, the poppy, and the metallic, Therapy? has spent 15 years purposefully avoiding categorization.High Anxietyis a welcome return for the band after two painful years without a drummer or a record deal. True to form, they've recruited a drummer from the very top drawer. Where 2001'sShamelessemployed Barrett Martin, the powerhouse behindScreaming Trees,High Anxietyfeatures Neil Cooper from the criminally ignored the Beyond. Cooper adds a vital edge and energy to a set of songs that, for the most part, would not make it onto any Therapy? hits package. Highlights are the humorously blasphemous opener "Hey Satan--You Rock," the bitter and menacing "Not in Any Name," the howling closer "Rust," and "Limbo," which quotes from the Beyond's "Eve of My Release." Also excellent is the hidden track," Never Ending," a despairing pop-metal track.--Dominic Wills