Saves The Day went through a couple of shifts in their musical style, and while this compilation only covers one if them, it's nice to have some background on the band they were before they became emo-pop/pop-punk hitmakers. Ups & Downs: Early Recordings And B-Sides chronicles the band right at the turn of the century, with the first few songs being on various artists compilations and the next four comprising the I'm Sorry, I'm Leaving acoustic EP, which is great in and of itself. The tracks that follow see them in the mid-to-late-90's, with demos of unreleased material all sounding like they could've fit on to Can't Slow Down with ease, demonstrating that they surely knew how to play pop-punk with the emphasis on punk as well as the inverse. The one issue with this compilation is that it doesn't actually contain all of their b-sides, which is kind of strange. Still, this is a fine collection of material that every fan of the band should hear (as if they haven't).
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