Not quite a new album, not exactly a compilation, Bunsen Burner: The Album is the somewhat belated parent to Otway's 2002 return to the U.K. chart, a delirious mishmash that includes two versions of the title track hit, its multitude of B-sides, and a wealth of other latter-day Otway joys. His version of the Osmonds' "Crazy Horses" is as maniacal as you'd hope, while "Rumpelstiltskin" revisits a song, unbelievably, that has lain unrecorded since it evolved during the first years of his career, in the early 1970s. "House of the Rising Sun," too, dates back a few decades, although this latest rendition may well be the most chaotic he has ever unleashed.
Elsewhere, Bunsen Burner is classic latter-day Otway, a delightful mass of irresistible rockers and irreproachable heartbreakers, bolstered in the collectors' eye by gathering so many loose ends up into one place. ~ Dave Thompson|
Rovi