Dr Robert - Keep On Digging For The Gold

"No more hate in my heart, baby!" are Dr Bob's first solo words, and his early singles and outtakes are surprisingly buoyant, full-bodied stabs at white soul exuberance, impossibly busy, evoking jazz-funk and Orange Juice. Anti-Gulf War One epic "Walt Whitman" and the cathedral-big production of B-side "Realms Of Gold" show the man's often overlooked ambition, but when he's reduced to singer-songwriter simplicity as the '90s wear on, the too-literal limitations of a good-hearted talent are exposed.

Rating: 2 / 10