Listening to PHANTOM RADIO back to back with Blues Funeral, which I consider to be the best pop/rock album of 2012, it doesn't sound quite as good. But in its own right it's one of the best albums of 2014, and after multiple listens it grows on me and I find its melodies in my head for hours.The first four songs are really strong: Harvest Home, Judgement Time, Floor of the Ocean, and The Killing Season. The rest of the album moves in a lighter pop direction by comparison until the powerful closing track: Death Trip to Tulsa. At first I was not fully convinced by Seventh Day, I Am the Wolf, Torn Red Heart, or The Wild People. Seventh Day features a "la, la, la" chorus which was initially jarring. The Wild People struck me as lightweight (Lanegan is a dark bohemian -- isn't he "wild"? -- why does he need to go hang out with wild people somewhere else?) Torn Red Heart, with a Jesus & Mary Chain sound, is a love song ("You don't love me...") that seemed out of character.But on repeated listening, PHANTOM RADIO sounds better and better. Torn Red Heart and The Wild People have strong melodies that burn into the subconscious and bubble back up later. The lyric to I Am the Wolf can sound cliched and over-the-top, but with Alain Johannes's guitar and Lanegan's voice carrying you along, it overcomes that reaction.As with BLUES FUNERAL, Lanegan's secret weapon is Alain Johannes on guitars, bass, keyboards, and production. Jack Irons is the drummer. As on that previous MLB album there are lots of Eighties retro sounds, mainly produced by synthesizer keyboards, but these are just the raw materials for something new.Lanegan is on a roll, continuing to make some of the best pop/rock music of recent years.(Don't overlook Black Pudding (2013) with Duke Garwood either!)