The Science of Things

AMG Review of The Science of Things

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

For their third album, The Science of Things, Bush returned to Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, the Madness producers who helmed Sixteen Stone, but along the way, they fell out with the duo. Rossdale claimed the two were only credited on the album for legal reasons, and that the real work was done by the band with engineer Tom Elmhirst, which is probably true, since it's slicker than Razorblade Suitcase but doesn't glisten like Stone. Science is carefully crafted and sequenced, flowing nicely from hard rockers to power ballads, and it plays better than the disjointed Razorblade Suitcase due to studiocraft, since the measured, detailed production fleshes out songs held together by a bare minimum of hooks and melodies. Without hooks, Rossdale's emotive, gut-wrenching vocals and the band's hard, heavy delivery are all this record has to offer. Still, Bush's earnestness is unavoidable, and they're undoubtedly sincere and have delivered a professional record.