Q, 1995-04-01

From Re-releases section, pg.122
written by Tom Doyle

Mighty Like a Rose

Exhibit A when it comes to the self-proclaimed Beard Years, time has to
some extent been kind to 1991's Mighty Like a Rose.  Owing to the fact
that most of the best tracks are programmed to the front of the album,
it starts out positively - The Other Side of Summer's jaunty cynicism,
the rattling paranoia of Hurry Down Doomsday, the alternate rock stars
pilloried in How To Be Dumb (which, particularly through the presence
of Pete Thomas and Larry Knetchel's Nieve-modelled piano frills, wouldn't
have seemed out of place on Brutal Youth).  For every Sweet Pear or
Invasion Hit Parade however, there's the ill advised Costello Sings
Bono of Broken and or the Weill-like barroom clank of Couldn't Call
It Unexpected No. 4. Of the two McCartney/McManus compositions, Playboy
To A Man is still an ungainly rocker, while So Like Candy remains almost
certainly the best thing to come out of their collaboration.

3 out of 5 stars