A cover version of a Bob Gaudio/Four Seasons B side, The Tremeloes streamline the original, take out the harp zings and shimmering guitar runs to go head to head with Frankie Valli and the band by pushing their vocal harmonies upfront 'till they bleed. That they're able to play on the same course as The Four Seasons without falling flat is all to their credit but, as the cliché (almost) goes, re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic only makes it neat and tidy; it's not going to stop the ship going down.Not that I'm claiming 'Silence Is Golden' is a musical disaster on par with the Titanic (it's nowhere near robust enough for that analogy to work anyway), but neither is it totally shipshape. Even on its 1964 maiden voyage, there wasn't much The Four Seasons could do with the self pitying handwring of the lyric - a girl who they've taken a shine to is being treated like rubbish by her boyfriend ("Oh don't it hurt deep inside, to see someone do something to her"), but instead of taking charge they're content to sit back and mouth platitudes ("Silence is golden, but my eyes still see") that seek to portray a coward's inactivity as a noble pursuit.
In short, 'Silence Is Golden' has an inherent wetness that, without the ornamental nuts and bolts of instrumental distraction of the original, sounds all the wetter here - it's Walter the softie and his mates tut tutting at the latest outrage from Dennis the Menace. Granted, the harmonies are well crafted and executed, but they only serve to emphasise the song's milksop heart, and while 'Silence Is Golden' is pleasant and amiable, it's got all the substance and backbone of candyfloss on a string, not least on the closing high note that squeaks the song out with one last petulant, footstamping whine.
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