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[ Hey, Look at My Career - October
9, 2000 ]
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Hey, Look at My Career! The Greatest
Hits of Alternative Veterans
written by Steve Reynolds
Here are the rules a greatest hits
album are usually conceived under: 1) It's an easy way
to cash in on the holiday season; 2) It's a way to finish
out a record contract; 3) The artist's previous album
was a stiff and this might restore their luster; and 4)
This best-of capitalizes on the momentum established by
their last album. In an ideal world, a greatest hits album
surveys an artist's best work and places it in the proper
context (think of The Rolling Stones' Hot Rocks
or Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' Greatest Hits).
Recent best-of packages from Soul Asylum, Indigo Girls,
Matthew Sweet and Buffalo Tom all fall under at least
one of the aforementioned rules, each with varying degrees
of success.
 Soul
Asylum's Black Gold (Columbia/Legacy) is the last
album in their deal with Columbia, the label that pushed
them to platinum status in 1993, only to ignore them for
the next five years. This success also became the band's
undoing, as longtime fans accused these lovable losers
of selling out, while fans who came on board for Grave
Dancer's Union moved on to other favorites quickly.
Black Gold surveys their entire recording career,
but in a very spotty fashion. Sure, the essential pre-"Runaway
Train" tracks are included ("Cartoon," "Sometime to Return,"
"Closer to the Stars"), but then you have to deal with
a stinker of an unreleased song ("Lonely for You") and
the weakest tracks from three of the group's albums ("Close"
from Candy From a Stranger, "String of Pearls"
from Let Your Dim Light Shine and "We 3" from And
the Horse They Road In On). Black Gold displays
how not to do a best-of package - let's hope Soul Asylum's
next album recaptures the magic of their loser days.
[ buy Black
Gold or more
from Soul Asylum ]
 On
the other hand, Indigo Girls recaptured their magic last
year with Come On Now Social, easily their strongest
release since 1989's Indigo Girls made them darlings
of what would soon become the Lilith Fair set. Retrospective
(Epic) serves up two tracks from each of those albums,
and ten more of their best-known songs. With witty (and
incredibly honest) liner notes from Emily Saliers and
Amy Ray, Retrospective traces the group's musical
evolution from their origins as an acoustic duo ("Strange
Fire," "Closer to Fine") to the full rock band sound of
"Go," which could be mistaken for a Neil Young cover.
The two new songs that end the album ("Devotion" and "Leaving")
blend in seamlessly, proving that this Georgia duo have
a lot of musical life left in them.
[ buy Retrospective
or more
from Indigo Girls ]
 The
same can't be said for Boston's Buffalo Tom. Their U.S.
record label was closed just after the band's last studio
album was released, and the three members now have families
and other interests that take up more of their time. Asides
from Buffalo Tom Ninety:Eighty:Eight to Nineteen:Ninety:Nine
(Beggars Banquet) is the last release on their UK record
contract. That being said, the disc highlights the fact
that Buffalo Tom made some of the most heartfelt, catchy
guitar-based music of the past ten years. Singer-guitarist
Bill Janovitz's vocals on "Taillights Fade" and "I'm Allowed"
are filled with a depth of emotion that most of today's
bands couldn't evoke, even if their entire family
abused them. The opening pair of tunes - "Summer" and "Sodajerk"
- paint a vivid picture of growing up in a simpler time
that's rarely found in today's disposable culture. Hopefully
Asides isn't the last gasp for Buffalo Tom, just
a place for them to stop and decide what's next.
[ buy Asides
or more
from Buffalo Tom ]
 Like
Buffalo Tom, Matthew Sweet creates music with a certain
timeless quality. Unfortunately for him, the time for the
power-pop perfection he specializes in seems to have past.
Songs like "Girlfriend" and "Sick of Myself" propelled Sweet
to a solid commercial standing in the early '90s, earning
him a couple of gold records. But when Sweet tried to branch
out to a bigger sound on his last album, In Reverse,
it was his biggest commercial failure of the past 10 years.
So Time Capsule (Volcano) serves as a way to reintroduce
Sweet to his core followers by reminding them of his great
track record, and a hint of what may come. One of the two
new songs, "So Far," is one of his best in years. Perhaps
Sweet will be able offer up more gems over the next ten
years.
[ buy Time
Capsule or more
from Matthew Sweet ]
October 9, 2000
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©
Figgle 2001-2003