The Spell

After briefly testing the waters under a new name, the Spell (a re-formed Images in Vogue) released a new album with their temporary band name as the title (though it's quite possible that the "new" band intended "Images in Vogue" to be the title). Only three of the original members (Dale Martindale, Joe Vizvary, and Gary Smith) remained, however, and the new members (Derrick Gyles and Tim Welch) gave the band a new, more rocking feel. The first single, So Careful, was certainly a solid number that nicely balanced guitars with keyboards, though it was plagued by a certain facelessness that did in most of the rest of the album — by the time they had re-formed, there were any of a number of other bands already doing this sort of thing, often better. Still, most of the album makes for a very pleasant listen, and it's by no means embarrassing. One oddity here is the short instrumental number "One Hand Cleanses," which sounds like a Skinny Puppy outtake — considering Kevin Crompton's less than amicable departure from Images in Vogue, it's quite possible that the title is a jab at their former bandmate.