Stephen
7th Heaven is either too creative or too generous, but it seems every new package they have is always abundant of song numbers. After the record-breaking of almost 300 songs on their 15-discs boxset, 'Jukebox' and also 18 songs on their previous 'USA/UK' record back in 2008, now they're back again with a full set of 21 songs, very convincing return with no shortage of ideas to keep pumping the songs out.
No significant change to the formation, 7th Heaven brings a solid melodic hard rock with a modern power pop touch and of course still referencing to the 80s decade as the solid ground of their musical foundation. The usual too-many-songs problem is you'll find it hard to separate which track is which and if you don't pay a full attention to each songs, you'll get mixed up easily, especially when all the tempo and songwriting style are very similar.
If you carefully pick the strongest tracks, I think there are at least 9-10 excellent songs or almost half the album, while the rest are spread between fillers and good tracks. Among those big numbers are 'Sing' and 'Snapshots In Time At The Speed of Light', a cross of Savage Garden and late-80s Def Leppard; 'Go For A Ride' and 'Dance of A Lifetime' with a hint of groovy shaky rhythm and wonderful chorus; 'She Should Have Been An Angel', 'Animals', 'Photographs', 'Should I Stay', and 'Living In A Mystery' are another fave tracks of mine.
I still consider 'USA/UK' as a better release, but 'Pop Media' won't disappoint the old fans, in fact, 7th Heaven is one of the most consistent band that keep delivering what their fans really wanted and hoped. Best of luck to the band and it's always good to see a band stays true to what they're good at.