Sisyphos and Paraphernalia in 2004

As we get ever closer to the present time, though still two decades distant almost, what do we get?
Well I found this one to be a little disappointing in comparison to both some of the earlier and later.

There is much more of a basic rock feel, perhaps not so surprising given they had lived through the alternative revolution of the 1990s (and made such great music in that decade too).  

Consider the acoustic piano song called Nothing Else to Say, which although augmented by a nice raw string quartet arrangement, and some (Freddie Mercury-like) harmony vocals later, leaves a little to be desired:

A nice electric guitar track called Singer Without Audience builds up nicely throughout its 10 minutes: