When expectations are so high you can’t help but let people down. You’ve got Marilyn Manson name-dropping you in the press, then the press are calling you the best new band this year. What can you do though? Turn round and say we don’t deserve all of this. Of course not, you’ve spent the best part of 10 years trying to breakthrough. This is the dilemma that Godhead now find themselves in.

Pretentiousness is such an ugly trait and this album shouts it from the rooftop. It sets itself up as one of those revolutionary moments in musical history, you know the same sort of arrogance the Manics had when they released “The Holy Bible”. Sadly, “2000 Years Of Human Error” has nothing to offer but angst-ridden clichés – which is fine. But please don’t come over here saying that it’s the most honest record ever made.

The problem is, I find myself loving it and loathing it in equal amounts. For as much as it stinks of unoriginality you can’t help but like “The Reckoning” or “Inside You”. The Manson connections don’t end with name drops though and throughout the 11 songs we get a near carbon copy of “Holywood”. The only slight difference is on the slower tracks such as “Tired Old Man” and “I Hate Today” where the vocals veer into Eddie Vedder territory. A cover of a pop classic is featured in the form of the Beatles “Eleanor Rigby”. Completely unnecessary, but anything that pisses off some ageing Beatles fan is good enough for me.

In the year 2001 we’ve come to expect so much from rock & roll. We’ve got Amen, Mudvayne and a whole host of acts quick to sell us their brand of angst-ridden rock. It’s become such a marketable product that surely it won’t be long before we get Steps doing their breakdown album (we’ve already had Billie Piper going all mature on us at only 18 so surely it isn’t too hard to believe). If you view “2000 Years…” as just an album rather than a way for living then its fine, just don’t ever expect an in-depth manifesto from these guys.

Alex McCann