Search - Everclear :: In a Different Light

Great songs turned crap

Chip L | Little Rock, AR | 10/23/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a huge everclear fan for a long time - since their second album, Sparkle and Fade. I can't tell you how disappointed I am with this album. None of the remastered songs are "better" than the original versions. They're all slower, more produced, and sappier. I didn't think it was possible for everclear to screw up a song like Summerland, but they found a way. I miss Everclear when it was guitar, bass, and drums.



I've grown tired of the bubblegum pop music everclear has put out as of late. They came onto the music scene with some heavy punk rock riffs and catchy rock tunes. If you are a fan of the old school everclear, especially World of Noise and Sparkle and Fade, don't even listen to this album. It's depressing."

Everclear's Atom Heart Mother

Rate | Florida | 12/27/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Ok, let me preface this by saying that I was VERY excited when I heard that Everclear had put out some new material. I want to point this out as it contributes to the review, because I was pretty disappointed.



The one thing I've always loved about Everclear is the ENERGY that they put into their music. Some of my all-time favorite songs are "Learn to Smile" and "When It All Goes Wrong Again" because it sounds like Art and the others are just pouring everything they have into the song. Even "slower" songs like "Wonderful" and "Santa Monica" still have a level of energy to them that I've always found unique to Everclear.



This album lacks that completely.



I mean, you know how some bands put out an album that is trying something different then their usual style, and it usually ends up being too "artsy" and basically gets ignored in the long run? (See: Metallica's St. Anger, Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother, anything by the Rolling Stones in the 90s)



This is that album for Everclear. In trying to do something different, Art gets too far from what made Everclear what they were. A lot of the songs it almost sounds like Art is just speaking the lyrics, and a few of them even sound a little off beat to me. I mean, it really went from this music that was loud and fun and in your face, to something that sounds like what you hear at an open mic night with a bunch of beatnik poets who snap their fingers because they're too cool to clap.



Is it terrible? No. Art still has a unique voice, and you can tell that everyone involved with the project is talented. But it does seem a little forced, and that just makes it bad."

Open-minded

andymydear | Florida, USA | 11/12/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I think you have to go into this album with an open-mind. If you like Everclear's stuff before this - Great, awesome. If you don't - that's alright, too. I think you have to take this album as a solo album, nothing before it, all original songs. Because, really, they are all kind of original. If you go into this just looking for purely rerecorded, no changes, no add-ons, no variation; then buy or download the old albums and stop complaining. If you want to hear something new, a different twist, or Everclear classics in a different light; then get this album.



I grew up with songs like Summertime, Wonderful, and Santa Monica. I have to admit, listening to Santa Monica, not knowing that this album was rerecorded or anything like that; I wasn't that pleased. But after seeing that it's a completely new take; I thought it was a pretty killer aspect to old songs I grew up with. For example, Wonderful - damn, this song's been one of my favourites of all-time since I can remember. And this rerecorded one on In A Different Light; I absolutely loved it. I thought it was so wonderful (no pun intended), that I sent a copy to a bunch of people I grew up with and listened to this song with.





But really, you may not like the twists and turns of the NEW songs (they are new, in all reality), but that doesn't make it a bad album. Everclear's doing something different. I mean, look how many times Beck and Thrice have come out with albums COMPLETELY different from the previous. It's something different and new. And you can't be so close-minded going into it. You have to be open to some kind of change. If it's not your cup of tea, that doesn't make it a horrible one.





All-in-all, it's a more-than decent album. New sound, same lyrics. I think that's a very brave, and good thing."