M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming (Double vinyl LP)

...or if you are like me we're having a nightmare listening to some of this overblown stadium tosh. Imagine a Bono who is even more messianic than he thinks he is collaborating with Jean Michelle Jarre, Phil Collins on drums, playing the biggest stadium in the entire world. That's the impression you get from the massive opening track which we think features Zola Jesus though you can barely hear her beneath all the flotsam and jetsam piled on top of this track. 'Midnight City' is pure '80s synth-driven rock with a catchy as hell keyboard motif, sitting somewhere between Erasure and Roxette. 'Reunion' IS 'Don't You Forget About Me' by Simple Minds shot through with Mew's absurd progressive pop. Why does everyone want to ape phenomenally successful, millionaires U2?  Everything here recalls their idiotic take on stadium rock as performed by an Eastern European tribute band whose aim in life is to join the Scorpions. Strangely when the bluster is toned down as on 'Wait' its much more affecting. Still, that's not saying a lot. 'Raconte-Moi Une Histoire' features an idiotic kid annoying everyone beneath the Larry Mullen bassline. I'm only on track 6 out of 22 and I've seen enough - on one hand you have to admire such determined pompous self-belief, on the other you want to wring their necks.