Released: October 7, 1997 (Capitol)
Art Alexakis - Vocals, Guitar, Steel Guitar, Keyboards, Banjo, Mandolin
Craig Montoya - Bass, Vocals, Keyboards, Mandolin
Greg Eklund - Drums, Percussion, Vocals, Keyboards
Similar Artists:
Marcy Playground
Presidents of the USA
Weezer
Verve Pipe
Collective Soul
With the release of So Much For The Afterglow, the group's second major-label offering, Everclear takes a new direction, away from their usual post-grunge sound into more of an alternative and polished one. While riding on the heels of the highly successful Sparkle and Fade, So Much For The Afterglow showcases the group at their best, lyrically and musically. This album sparked hit songs such as Everything To Everyone, I Will Buy You A New Life, Father of Mine, and One Hit Wonder. So Much For The Afterglow remains a staple for alternative rock in the 90's.
So Much For The Afterglow - Starts of with a Beach Boy-esque vocal harmony that builds up then kicks into the verse, giving the song a nice feel. A very good track to start off the album. "This is a song about Susan, this is a song about the girl next door. This is a song about the everyday occurrences that make me feel like letting go. Yes, I think we've got a problem, so much for the afterglow."
4.5/5
Everything To Everyone - Enters with a nice little melody on keyboard that repeats through the whole song, then the drum kick in. The stand-up bass in the verses makes for a unique sound. This song also has some of the best lyrics on the album. "You put yourself in stupid places, yes I think you know it's true, situations where it's easy to look down on you. I think you like to be the victim, I think you like to be in pain. I think you make yourself a victim almost every single day."
5/5
Normal Like You - A song about people with depression. "I heard those stupid people talk about you again, I just have to laugh to keep from hurting bad. Their simple minds just cannot seem to understand, you are neurotic and depressed, it doesn't mean that you're sad."The guitar solo in this song is great, 'its not technically amazing or anything, but it fits perfectly with the mood of the song.
4./5
I Will Buy You A New Life - A song that you can just kick back and chill out to. "I hate those people who love to tell you money is the root of all that kills. They have never been poor, they have never had the joy of a welfare Christmas. "It has some pretty nice guitar work too.
4/5
Father of Mine - My favorite song on the album. A song about Art's father who left him at a young age. "My daddy gave me a name, then he walked away." The line "Sometimes you would send me a birthday card with a five dollar bill" refers to the only times Art would hear from his father would be when he would send him a card with a five dollar bill on his birthday. The riff in the verses coincides really well with the lyrics. Art is great at writing riffs that fit well with the music. The solo in this song is just plain awesome, and it really shows off Art's guitar playing abilities.
5/5
One Hit Wonder - A song about someone who will do anything to make it famous. "He knows if he ever even gets the chance he'd sell his soul to make the monster dance. He knows if he ever even gets to try he'll bite down hard to make the monster cry." Starts off with a little riff on guitar and then bass comes in. Pretty simple, but it sounds good nonetheless. Nice horns on the outro.
4/5
Distorto de Melodica - A metal-ish instrumental song that you wouldn't expect to find on this album. It's filled with guitar and bass solos. Overall a very interesting song.
4/5
Amphetamine - Probably the fastest song on the album. A song about a girl trying to clean up her life filled with drug abuse. "She came out west just to break the spell after three long years in a marriage from hell. Six months clean, living sober and right, the doctors tell her everything will be all right." I like the outro with the violins.
4/5
White Men In Black Suites - A song about two people who meet each other, one is a guy who is trying to see what he can be in life and the other is a girl who works as a stripper just to get money even though she does doesn't like it. The lead fills in the verses give the song flavor. "I still see those scary guys when I am all alone at night. I kiss the ring you gave me, then I swing with all my might."
4.5/5
Sunflowers - A song about Art's daughter; this song starts off with acoustic guitar and then goes into the verses which have some country sounding guitar riffs. This is the only song on the album I don't like, but that's not to say it's a bad song, just not as good in compairison to the rest of the album.
3.5/5
Why I Don't Believe In God - This song just shows you the genres that Everclear can cover in their music. The song starts off with noise of kids playing and them some harmonics and banjo that lead into the verse. Has kind of a country/bluegrass feel to it, but with strong vocals. "I wish I believed like you do, in the myth of a merciful god, in the myth of a heaven and hell. I hear the voices you hear sometimes, sometimes it gets so much I feel like letting go. Sometimes it gets so godd
amn hard I feel like letting it all go." Overall a really great song.
5/5
Like A California King - Starts off with some feedback that leads into a nice riff that guitar, bass, and violin all play. Then the drums play a smooth beat while the guitar and bass ring out. I really liked the bridge where he yells out "I will find you in the crowded room, I will knock you off your feet. I will burn you just like teenage love, I will eat you just like meat. I will break you into pieces, hold you up for all the world to see. What makes you think you're better than me?"
4.5/5
Hating You For Christmas - The bonus track after Like A California King that starts at 4:36. I like the line in the song "Yes I will be hating you for Christmas." Overall a good bonus track and a good way to close out the album.
4/5
Recommended Songs:
Father of Mine
Everything To Everyone
So Much For The Afterglow
Like A California King
This is one of my favorite albums of all-time from a band that seems to have been forgotten these days.
Overall - 4.7/5
