Word of Mouth, by Mike & The Mechanics

This album, released in 1991, was the third album released by Mike & The Mechanics, and its official AllMusic review suggested that the album’s presence in remainder bins may have been due to bad word of mouth. Coming after two successful albums, the successful self-titled debut and follow “The Living Years,” which was buoyed by its title track, which became a massive hit with its poignant reflection on the relationship between fathers and sons (and a staple of my own father issues repertoire as a singer), this album had modest success in the UK but failed to crack the top half of the Top 200 albums in America. In many ways, I come at this album from a compromised position, in that I am a particular fan of the band as a whole, very fond of the title track of the album, about which I have written at some length, and I have also listened to the singles of this album, which are by the fact that they were released likely the selection of the most enjoyable or accessible songs on the album. Nevertheless, it is well worth examining the extent to which the singles are the only strong songs on the album or whether the album works well from beginning to end, from its more up-tempo numbers like “Get Up” and the title track to the ballads that fill the second half of the album. As is my custom, I will be listening to this album with headphones on Spotify streaming the album order, listening to the album in 2026 without the sorts of expectations that a listener would have had at the time. I predict that the ballads at the back half of the album will probably run together a bit and be weaker than the first half but that at least one of them will be as good as the singles I am familiar with. I will report on which of these expectations holds when I finish the listening to the album, and it is to that work of listening and commentary that we now turn, in a track-by-track review.

The album begins with “Get Up,” a rousing number that seems designed to be an audience sing-along at concerts, and clearly has a motivational focus that combines rousing lyrics with a gorgeous instrumental. “Word of Mouth,” the title track, follows with a similarly rousing introduction and design as a motivational anthem. This song, even more than the opener, seems designed and sequenced to encourage audiences singing along, which is hinted at by the clapping and the backing vocal of the track itself. It’s not at all surprising that this was the first single from the album as well as its biggest hit. “A Time And A Place” drops the tempo considerably and has the group reflecting on a relationship that is estranged but where the narrator has not given up hope of ultimate reconciliation and restoration of the relationship. It serves as a powerful ballad and it is unsurprisingly one of the hit singles that came from this album as well. “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” follows with Paul Young singing a surprisingly up-tempo song looking thoughtfully at the complications of dealing with past mistakes, enjoying the present, and having expectations that the future continue on likewise. This is another motivational track that wasn’t released as a single but it’s certainly an enjoyable album cut. “The Way You Look At Me” would appear from its title would be a slow ballad, but no, instead it is a relatively up-tempo song but one that has a downbeat message about having to carry on while knowing that someone’s view of you is something that is not going to change, so it’s not worth talking about anymore. “Everybody Gets A Second Chance” is similarly a Paul Carrack-sung song that is in the post-breakup or at least post-crisis stage of Mike & The Mechanics songs (a surprisingly large collection of songs across their body of work as a whole), but is a midtempo number that affirms that everyone gets the chance to apologize and explain themselves and reconcile with others after the inevitable falls and minor errors of human existence. This song was, perhaps unsurprisingly, a moderately successful single in some territories like the UK. “Stop Baby” follows, a lovely song that combines devoted lyrics seeking communication with a departing partner with somewhat tense synth-driven music that sounds like the 80’s production of the first two Mike & The Mechanics albums along with some nice woodwind touches. “My Crime Of Passion” is a midtempo song with somewhat spare guitar, drum, and piano instrumentation about self-reflection about someone seeking to avoid a disaster due to a lack of self-control, a song that carries over the criminology language applied to relationships that appeared earlier in “Everybody Gets A Second Chance,” perhaps serving as the first half to that song in terms of its contents, although sequenced out of order. It has a gorgeous guitar solo, though, towards the back end, to add to its instrumental interest. “Let’s Pretend It Didn’t Happen” follows, which seems to copy “Stop Baby’s” combination of very spare midtempo song combined with achingly long verbal lines in the verses leading to a soaring and gorgeous chorus that has the narrator calling on himself and an estranged partner to pretend that their relationship didn’t happen at all which is an effective way to deal with the negative communication that the narrator reflects on that prevents them from being friends in the aftermath of their breakup. The last song on the album, clocking in at more than 6 and a half minutes, is “Before (The Next Heartache Falls),” joining the list of songs with unnecessary parentheses. This song, as one might imagine, is a fairly spare ballad in its verses with a mid-tempo guitar riff and drums and some liquid synths playing long chords. Instead of showing the verse-chorus, it tends to add interest instrumentally as the song goes, adding drums and some 80’s sounding menacing guitars after the first verse. Almost 4 minutes into this song we get a lovely guitar-led bridge as Paul Carrack sings to an absent partner who has ghosted him and at the five minute mark we get a Gospel choir, and then as Carrack repeats the chorus we get more soaring guitars.

So how does this album meet my expectations? My prediction ended up half-true. I expected that the end of the album would run together and it did not, though I can see how a listener who did not listen to this album closely or with headphones that pick up the subtle instrumental touches in its ballads might think so. I have to say that the last song on the album, despite its length, is a really gorgeous number that deserves to be a well-remembered and regarded album closer and deep cut from this era of Mike & The Mechanics. In general, this album is an excellent collection of songs, though it is evident that many of the deep cuts of the album have a similar structure of spare verse production with more interest focused on the choruses. The album clearly carries on what Mike & The Mechanics were doing in “Living Years,” with the same kind of 80’s type of production and balance between adult-oriented rock and adult-contemporary balladry. The album itself has a coherent theme in dealing with communication issues that lives up to its title and balances motivational drive and reflective balladry in effective balance. Perhaps the most notable aspect of the album is its sequencing, in that while the first two and the last song clearly work well as far as the bones of a concept album. But it is also true that listeners have to work hard to fit the concepts together, in that the album ends with 3 out of its last 4 songs having a similar production style as ballads, with the album beginning with 3 out of its first 4 songs being up-tempo numbers and “Everybody Gets A Second Chance” belonging after “My Crime of Passion” in terms of its contents and message. Viewed as an overall album, this is an album that rewards close listening as the listener is able to pick up on distinctive decorative details in the instrumentals of songs that keeps them from being monotonous as well as attention to lyrics that consistently dwell upon communication difficulties as a major driver of relationship dysfunction. Overall, it would appear that the sequencing divide between a mostly upbeat beginning and mostly ballad closing as well as the order of its songs may account for at least some complaints about the way that this album ends from some reviewers. If my word of mouth has anything to say about it as a listener who has sought to judge the album from hearing it rather than simply repeating what has been said for decades about this album, here’s hoping that this album reaches more sympathetic ears.