The Melodic turn

Their new album has taken a melodic turn. Have you ever heard that term? Hopefully it is not being used anymore. If you were reading metal, hard rock magazines from say the mid 80's to the early 90's then you may heard this term used. It was sort of a catch phrase used by writers to basically say the band has softened or lightened their sound. I guess saying melodic turn makes it sound like a new direction rather than just making it sound like the band is wimping out. After a while I figured out that if an album review said the band had taken the melodic turn then that meant bad news because that had to mean the album in question was a weak stinker. I would much rather reviewers be more direct and don't sugar coat the review or use catch phrases then again Hit Parades and Circus could never be accused of being real journalism in any sense of the word.