Sense is mostly a better-than-average pop record with a couple of truly wondrous moments on it; but it is at least partly a lesson in the importance of sequencing an album. The best and the worst thing about Sense is the fact that both of the two opening tracks, "Sense" and "Life Of Riley", are pretty much as good as it gets: the former, a collaboration with Terry Hall (ex-Specials, Fun Boy Three) is a gorgeously and unabashedly corny love song; the latter, a welcome to the world for Ian Broudie's new son Riley, was correctly held by the BBC to contain just the right balance of exuberance and beauty to qualify it as the soundtrack for the Goal Of The Month competition on Match Of The Day. Beyond those two giddying peaks--both of which are, naturally, included on The Lightning Seeds' best-of album, Like You Do--the quality might be charitably described as uneven. The faintly country-ish "A Cool Place" is not without the wistful charm that Broudie at his best communicates so well, but far too much of the rest of Sense sounds like songs being played in the hope that a tune will turn up eventually. --Andrew Mueller
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