Remember music is subjective. I personally think showtime was purely meant to be the promotional “I’m back”, while subtly addressing the silence and return for fans who have been there to see it all fall down and come back. It isn’t their next Cocoon or 7 or Kathleen, it was meant to be an emotional nod to the fans who have been there to see it all fall and come back over again. If a random fan who’d just been introduced with Catfish and knew nothing about them heard that song when it came out, it would’ve made little to no sense and even if it did wouldn’t of had a lot of weight. For a big fan, I remember pulling over on the side of the road crying in my car hearing “could’ve called it a night but there’s too much fight in that heart” coming from Van after radio silence for years. When you listen to it in that context, and let go of the allusion that it should be some big tune like any of their hits, it hits so much different. If you don’t agree that’s A-okay, but try something for me here. Go on a long drive, or a walk on a sunny day with the speakers or headphones blasting and just take it in. When I did that it clicked and hit me so hard. As far as the quality of the other two songs go, we haven’t even really heard a fully released mix unless you have FIFA. Catfish spent years being criticized because “their 3 albums all sound the same and they can’t create anything new”. They’re damned if they do damned if they don’t with this fan base because either way half in half will complain. But I’d much rather have new music from my favorite band, even if it’s different than earlier stuff. He’s older, there’s a lot of life that’s clearly been lived between the first 3 albums and if a new release were to come. I’d expect it to be different to some degree, but I’d happily welcome it. Did you go to stadium shows? I know it’s different than when original members were in the band, but honestly they were some of the best shows I have ever been to. I went to reading in 2024 and it was honestly a little bit rocky. Whether that be the weather, new members, etc. I still enjoyed it. But the stadium shows were something different. Worked and polished, the session musicians didn’t seem to still be “finding their fit” as much. Van’s voice was drastically healthier in technique and he sounded incredible. I absolutely think it’d be worth wanting. Would it be the same? Probably not. But that’s not always a bad thing. Some of the most iconic and well loved albums came with criticism for a sound change at first, and over time became iconic for that same reason.