Before I begin, you should know that Guster is one of my favorite bands. I have been a fan for five years and my loves has waned only slightly. While a fan, I was forced to wait nearly four years before a new record was in my hand. It has finally come and I have a few things to say about it.

First, some of Guster's best work ever is on this album. They put there heart and soul into this album and the songwriting is spectacular. Wonderful stuff. Now, I have two major complaints about the record. The first is that there are a number of filler tracks on this record. Never before have I come across a Guster record with filler tracks. I recognize that the mood of this album is different from the previous three, but a slow song does not have to be boring and I find that everything after "Red Oyster Cult" is fairly boring. My other complaint is the lack of Guster-ness. This one is minor as a band is bound to progress and the Guster-core is still there. What's missing is the lack of hand drums and harmonies. There is definitely some of both but not nearly as much as I had come to enjoy in the past.

Now that the complaints are out of my system, I will say that I absolutely love the direction that Guster is going. I don't think a fourth album in the same vein would have worked for them as a band. They are all growing up and they are not Danielle Steele -- they cannot put out the same record/book over and over again. I don't mean to imply that the first three records are identical but with different names, but they do all have a similar attitude. The attitude has changed with Keep it Together and that's a good thing.

My favorite songs on the record are "Diane," "Amsterdam," the Massachusetts song (the title of which I have forgotten) and "Red Oyster Cult." As I mentioned, I can't get into the second half (post-ROC) of the record but I am going to give it another shot. Guster has yet to disappoint me and I'd like this not to be the first time. Still, by having a few duds at the end this puts them in perfect position for commercial success. Everyone knows that you are supposed to expend all of your energy on the singles and then poop out the rest of the songs until you have about twelve.

Seriously, this is a really good album. Guster fans are going to buy it without my recommendation but I think that those who haven't given them a try in the past should really check out this album. You can listen to six of the songs on the record at their website.