In my opinion, something that makes Maladjusted a particularly interesting album is the way that its intention seems to be at odds with itself. There are sort of two versions of Maladjusted uncomfortably coexisting within one LP. There's this late afternoon, melancholy pop (Alma Matters, Trouble Loves Me, Ammunition, I Can Have Both, Wide to Receive, etc.) and then there's this parallel strain of bizarre, synthetic, quasi-gothic songwriting we hear in Ambitious Outsiders, Sorrow Will Come in the End, This is Not Your Country, Kit and Heir Apparent.
It is what it is and it all holds together better than anyone gave it credit for back in 1997, but I sometimes think of the album as two strong, cohesive EPs that collided haphazardly.
It is what it is and it all holds together better than anyone gave it credit for back in 1997, but I sometimes think of the album as two strong, cohesive EPs that collided haphazardly.