In summary:

Deconstructed is the sound of band desperately searching for an identy, but failing to find it. The only positives are the killer remix of Mouth, and that this brief experimentation with electronic music put Bush on the path which led to their much improved next album.

Deconstructed receives 2/11.
★ ★

Bush followed up the successful Razorblade Suitcase with this collection of remixes from the same recording sessions.

It was a clear attempt by Gavin Rossdale and co. to diversify their sound and shake off the seemingly endless Nirvana comparisons which had dogged the band since their debut LP some three-and-a-half years earlier.

Unfortunately for Bush, it never really gets going.

You see, the main problem with Deconstructed is that fans of dance music and electronica will find most of the material rather dull, and fans of Bush will find it downright unlistenable, so the album doesn’t really have a core audience to appeal to.

The only bright spot here is the outstanding remix of Mouth, which was later included on the soundtrack to An American Werewolf In Paris (1997) and released as a single, hitting #5 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay Chart and then sticking around for an impressive 23 weeks.

It’s the only track in this collection which doesn’t stray too far from the source material, and the heftier production goes a long way to addressing the biggest issue which most fans had with Razorblade Suitcase in that it was simply “too raw”.

And as bleak as this collection of remixes may be, we can also see how the project likely set Bush down the path towards the electronic-inspired (and much improved) third proper album The Science Of Things, which was released just eight months later.

That doesn’t make Deconstructed any more listenable, but at least it makes it more worthwhile.

In summary:

Deconstructed is the sound of band desperately searching for an identy, but failing to find it. The only positives are the killer remix of Mouth, and that this brief experimentation with electronic music put Bush on the path which led to their much improved next album.

Deconstructed receives 2/11.
★ ★