Review Summary: This albums feeds off a wonderful rhythm section and brilliant songwriting to create an overlooked masterpiece. If you own this, you know how good it is.
In 1992 Art Alexakis’s project called Colorfinger broke up. He moved to Portland and set up an ad for a bass player and drummer. He stumbled upon Scott Cuthbert and Craig Montoya. They quickly recorded an EP called Nervous And Weird, followed by the full length album World Of Noise. World Of Noise was a complete failure, and Cuthbert was sacked a year later. He was replaced with Greg Eklund, and Everclear began working on Sparkle And Fade. Sparkle And Fade was greeted with success, mainly from the singles Heroin Girl and Santa Monica. It consisted of songs written for World Of Noise that didn’t make the cut and songs that Greg Eklund contributed to.
This album was written all about
Life & death,
The Twistinside is a song written before Everclear even began, and it’s all about growing up. It deals with the fear and excitement of getting older, and the challenge of responsiblility. The guitar playing and bass playing is amazing here, especially during the solo where they battle back and forth. This is a definite highlight of the album. Her Brand New Skin is a really catchy tune that deals with life. It's the type of song that has a perfect hook that will either annoy or you'll enjoy. The only song that deals with death is one of the album’s finest, Queen Of The Air. It tells a story of a person who is lead to believe his entire life that his step-mom is his real mom and that his real mom is his deceased aunt. He believes this until the day he discovers that his dreams of standing by a bridge are really memories of him watching his mother fall suicidally to her death. In my opinion, this is the best song the band ever wrote. After Art is done screaming out the painful lyrics, the bass is cranked up and this slow, beautiful guitar solo comes in. This song could not be better, and I think it's one of the best songs of the 90's. I can't think of many songs with better lyrics than this:
There is a dream I used to have
My dream swallowed me whole
There is a bridge where I hate to go
That is where I first saw her
High on a bridge
I seen her red hair shining
There is a girl-I never knew
She was my Aunt Virginia
They said that she-she just disappeared
They said I look just like her
High on the bridge I seen her
Dancing, waving to me there
She smiled and raised her head
Then she took to the Air
There is a dream I can't escape
My memories come back to me
There is a hell that I can't escape
My memories come back to me
I heard the truth about it
Pictures and headlines hidden away
I heard the truth about my real mom
Jumping from the bridge that day
Now I know why ever since I was 3 years old
Been having the same nightmare
Now I know the truth about Virginia
Why she took to the Air
Mistakes you’ll make,
Strawberry is another classic from this album. The song is about a dream Art had of being tempted to get back on drugs. The chorus is very catchy. “Don’t fall down now you will never get up.” This is one of my all-time favorite Everclear songs. Pale Green Stars tells the tale of a girl who’s parents are getting a divorce. She is just starting to understand what’s happening, and her world is suddenly turned upside-down. The song isn't too interesting, but for being, in my opinion, the worst song on the album, it's still pretty good.
Places you’ll go,
Basically every single place described in the song has a feeling of a trailor trash world to it. During Nehalem, Art sings a song about rumors spreading in a small town of his girlfriend leaving him. It’s a fast paced catchy song that will be stuck in your head forever. It's really short, and really good. My Sexual Life is a beautiful song. The lyrics are serious but funny at the same time, with an insatiable guitar loop going throughout the whole song. Summerland is another classic. It’s about the same type of characters from the Twistinside. The people are trying to escape from the world where no one cares about them and they feel worthless. Art's emotional lyrics are spectacular. It's a great teenage angst song. Santa Monica is another favorite. Art describes his dreams of getting rich, leaving this hell hole for a better place, and watching everyone below him suffer. It's repetitive, but not annoying. The production here really shines on a simple song.
…And all the crazy people you’ll meet.
This whole album is full of characters. One would be the girl of Art's past described in Heroin Girl. The song is fast and fun, definitely a song that grows on you. Electra Made Me Blind is about a different girl. Art's grungy singing is a big bonus here. The catchy guitar riff and drum fills make this song one of the album's best. Heartspark Dollarsign is about another girlfriend, this time a black chick. Art's storytelling is definitely at its best here, as I find myself singing along to every word. Gotta love country rocking guitar and drums also.
The reason I have written this review in this style is to show one of the album's biggest strengths, storytelling (the other being production). I'm not saying Art Alexakis should write a novel, but he seems to be the grunge equivalent to Bob Dylan. Each song tells some sort of story, each one memorable. I may have mentioned this many times already, but I always sing along to this CD, something I rarely do with other music.
If you like 90’s alt-rock at all, I don't know if it gets any better than this. If that is the case for you, then you truly owe it to yourself to spend $5 for this. If this album ain't classic, I don't know what is.
5/5
