Review Summary: Say anywhere, as long as I'm with you.
Chapter III – Subsection 1: Lost, But Not Forgotten
There are essentially two types of B-side compilations. Some manage to make me wonder why the band shoved it to the side and never officially released it, while others are far from their best material and are justified in their status of being a ‘B-side’. Anberlin’s
Lost Songs falls somewhere in the middle – while it’s got some quality material that gets more flack than it should, there’s still some songs that never should have seen the light of day. Fresh off the release of their monumental third album,
Cities,
Lost Songs is mostly a treat for the fans that came out only as a cash grab by Tooth & Nail records, the label that Anberlin left for Universal in 2007.
The compilation’s covers are often seen as the album’s weakest tracks; however, most of them actually offer an interesting interpolation on songs that normally don’t get the cover treatment in the way Anberlin does them. Hearing their rendition of songs like The Smiths’ “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” is rather interesting, and is undoubtedly shoulders above the covers on those worthless
Punk Goes Pop collections. Stephen Christian still puts the same amount of energy into “The Promise” and “Like a Rolling Stone” as he did to “Godspeed” or “The Feel Good Drag”. Although the covers aren’t anything extraordinary, they’re still worth a listen or two. The same cannot be said for their takes on “Enjoy the Silence” and “Creep” (the former was actually featured on
Punk Goes Pop, Vol. 2), which completely butcher everything good about the original.
Lost Songs also shines in its acoustic tracks – the stripped-down arrangement offers a new outlook into some of Anberlin’s most well known songs, and even improves on some of their blemishes. “A Day Late” benefits from the more relaxed composition and brings out the emotion in Christian’s vocals that the original lacked. The same goes for “Cadence”, and even “Dismantle. Repair.” holds a special place in my heart. The acoustic riff is strummed so masterfully, and although the
Cities version is also excellent, Christian’s vocal talents were buried under the heavy electric guitar. Not everything can be flawless, though – the AOL sessions are either hit-or-miss, with “Dismantle. Repair.” being the only bright spot. “The Unwinding Cable Car” is already an acoustic ballad, so making an acoustic version of an acoustic song is a waste of precious album space. “Inevitable” suffers from rather hoarse vocals, as well as the removal of its buildup. Then again, they came into the studio only with an acoustic guitar, which takes away from what made the original so special.
Lost Songs actually shines the most in its rejected tracks – it opens up with two of the collection’s strongest songs – “The Haunting” off of the
Godspeed single begins as an acoustic ballad before exploding into an absolutely blissful wall of sound driven by an electric riff that works well following the change of pace. Both it and “Uncanny” would have worked well on
Cities, however, maybe they were shelved for a reason – perhaps they tampered with the album’s excellent flow? Still, they are amongst the highlights on
Lost Songs, boosted by Christian’s vocal talents and knack for writing captivating melodies. Meanwhile,
Never Take Friendship Personal would have greatly benefited from “Downtown Song”, especially if the track was placed in the middle of the album’s snoozers. At the end of the day, they provide the collection’s strongest tracks, even if the band didn’t feel they belonged on their studio albums.
If anything,
Lost Songs proves that Anberlin’s second-grade material can be just as good as their A-sides. When tracks like “The Haunting” or “Downtown Song” miss the album cut, it’s a sign of quality that the band felt they weren’t good enough for the record. Although many view the covers as a waste of time, the true waste of time comes from the demos – aside from “Everywhere In Between”, all of them sound nearly identical to the album version. Boasting nineteen tracks, the collection of rarities is mostly geared towards die-hard fans of the Floridian alt-rock group, as every song that never showed up on a studio album can easily be found here. Listening to
Lost Songs as an album isn’t the way the compilation is meant to be experienced – it’s far too lengthy and will diminish the experience. Even if some tracks were a tad bit unnecessary (“The Unwinding Cable Car [Acoustic]” and “Inevitable [Acoustic]”, I’m looking at you), most of the compilation’s tracks are worth a listen or two. Don’t let the term ‘B-side’ stop you from giving
Lost Songs a chance – some of these songs are better than the material on
Blueprints and
Never Take Friendship Personal. Even if Tooth & Nail primarily intended for the collection to be one last cash grab from a band that had just departed from their label a mere three months ago, it was one that managed to exceed expectations. These lost songs have been found, and the world is better because of it.
