I'm not a VH stan or anything, but your writing him off here like a "second-rate LK" is... damn. Usually get where you're coming from.

Dude is *way* more talented than I think you're giving him credit for... I get the arguments about being derivative (and I know that's where the LK connection is made), but those elements have (I think) weakened and weakened over each album. You can hear him starting to come into his own on "On the Jungle Floor" (which I think is a pretty sharp album, albeit a bit too long), and then striking far out into some rather progressive territory on "Popular" (which I didn't like a whole lot but appreciated for its more experimental qualities).

If anything, I would say he's underrated as a writer. I'd give him a second chance (and def stop comparing him to LK, whose paradox of talent/execution is on a whole other plane...)

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~