Review Summary: Decent introduction to an important 90's/2000's pop punk band.
When a band has been around for some time, like the Trio has, there often comes a point when a "best of..." compilation will be considered or released. These can sometimes be great, like Bad Brains' Greatest Riffs, with remastered versions of all the classic songs plus a few extra, or they can be almost entirely a known quantity, like with the Offspring's Greatest Hits. Alkaline Trio could easily have copped out and released a 14 song compilation, changed nothing, and maybe recorded a cover or two. Instead, they chose to take some of their more well known songs and re-record them acoustic, sometimes with piano or extra effects. This compilation definitely has some high points, and also some lows. Here's how my opinion of it breaks down.
Quite a few classic cuts from Alk3 are included on Damnesia, such as Clavicle, Private Eye, and Radio. The band also added a Violent Femmes cover (I Held Her in My Arms), an ode to malt liquor (Olde English 800), and a new Dan Andriano led song, I Remember a Rooftop. For the most part, these songs are good, but they also made the decision to use some songs that were already acoustic to begin with (Blue in the Face and Every Thug Needs a Lady), which seems largely unnecessary. The songs where the revisions really shine are This Could Be Love, with some eerie piano in the intro, Private Eye, with a very slowed down and depressive vibe, and You've Got So Far to Go, which takes on a very sentimental tone when it's just Dan and a guitar. The updated version of Radio suffers because Matt Skiba over-sings, and in the original the alternating clean/distorted guitar conveyed the emotion of the song better. I also question the inclusion of The American Scream, which is from their newest full length, This Addiction. The piano used throughout gives a very sappy vibe to an already sappy song.
Aside from what I've said, this compilation works as a good introduction to the band. You get songs from the band's entire catalog, and while some of them are much weaker than others, Damnesia is still worth listening to for the "official" acoustic version of Clavicle, Mercy Me, Private Eye, and Nose Over Tail.
