I have to admit that I am a sucker for cool sounds and tones. If you too like unusual arrangements, ranging from the very loud to the very soft, with all sorts of flanges, distortions, etc, then this is the album for you. if you like albums that sound very 'stripped-down,' this ISN'T for you. this being their last album, it actually stands as a nice counter-point to Core, which is about as straightforward as it gets. Shangri-LA meanders, wanders about, twists around, takes you places you didn't expect. and then, at the very end, with "long way home," STP wraps itself up with a pounding rock song that would be a solid song in any era, anytime. it's a nice mix of catchy hooks (see days of the week, dumb love, hollywood bitch, coma) and obscure more "arsty" work.

I say it is an 'influential' album only from my perspective. i like to mess around with some recording software, and after having listened to this album many, many times, i find myself very interested in the art of song arranging, and not just learning how to play the instruments themselves.

track 1, "dumb love," is my favorite STP song.