Big Circumstance

This was 's first release of new material in three years. It was a move away from the somewhat dated, overblown sound of his previous , toward a leaner, more guitar-dominated sound. Budgeting for album art seemed to be a little low, but luckily the collection of songs was of consistent high quality. As with most albums, this is a mix of socially conscious, , and reflective songs. had spent time in Nepal in 1987 and what he saw there found its way into some songs, including and Time spent in Germany soon after the nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union inspired while deforestation of the globe inspired the first single from the album. is equally at home writing about matters of the heart, though his lyrics take a much more unconventional turn in with lines such as "the night grows sharp and hollow as a junkie's craving vein" and "the night grows clear and empty as a lake of acid rain." Elsewhere on the album, in he takes pains to differentiate himself from right-wing Christianity and express his different view of the faith. Unusually for , he ends the album on a slightly humorous (albeit dark humor) note with a look at the temporariness of life, where "anything can happen" at any time "to put out the light." ~ Rob Caldwell