Search - Mxpx :: Let It Happen (W/Dvd) (Dlx)

Great band, but does NOT need to release every single song t

N. Flowers | Dover, DE | 12/01/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I normally shy away from all of these unnecessary re-issues of albums that have been popping up these past two years (it's become an epidemic; nobody really needs a re-issue of an album that was originally released a year or less ago). But, because I like MxPx, and because of the additional DVD, I decided to grab it.



I give it 3 stars: one star for the three new songs ("Your Turn" is my favorite of these), one star for the cheap price (fifteen bucks for 2 discs ain't bad), and one star for the DVD, which features all twelve of MxPx's music videos.



Of course, I still have a few bones to pick with the boys of Bremerton with this release, so here goes:



The advertisements for LIH:DE boasts an updated booklet with rare photos dating up to 2006. It's not all that great. Essentially, it's the same photos from the original LIH booklet, with about 5 or 6 new pics, all from the PANIC tour. Big deal.



The remixing of the tracks previously available on the original LIH is, in my opinion, pretty awful and certainly too bass-happy. A note to all bands who want to "up" the levels of their decade-old recordings so they fit alongside the quality of their newer stuff: LOUDER IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER.



Unless you're a die-hard MxPx fan, you're not gonna be too thrilled with the tracks on either version of LIH. A ton of two-minute, identical, pseudo-hardcore punk songs run rampant here, with only a few true keepers. In fact, some of MxPx's best early stuff, which was available on the original LIH, aren't even on the re-issue! What happened to "Move To Bremerton", "Chick Magnet", "Christalena", and the regular version of "Want Ad"? And why have they been replaced with unreleased demos and hardcore-ish songs that should have STAYED unreleased? It's a mystery to me, because MxPx is way more capable of doing better stuff than what makes up the majority of LIH:DE.



And this leads into my biggest question of all, which is more about the band than the album: What's up with all the releases?



MxPx, in the past few years, seem to have become a band who feels that every single song they write NEEDS to be recorded and released. In three years, they've put out four albums: BEFORE EVERYTHING AND AFTER, PANIC, LET'S ROCK, and LIH:DE. And between those four releases, it's the same story: a few killer cuts, and a lot of duds. LIH:DE is the worst of these, due to all of the identical material that were obviously filler that was written in-between all the good stuff (PANIC is the best of these four, with only a few so-so tracks floating around).



Luckily, the DVD saves LIH:DE, and you can argue that the fifteen dollar price tag is actually just for the DVD (hey, that's pretty cheap for a music video DVD nowadays).



So, you may as well go out and get LIH:DE for the few good songs and the DVD (although, again, I'd recommend PANIC instead). Or, for those who dread the "skip track" button on their CD players, just slap together the following mix, which I compiled using all of the gems from both versions of LIH:



MXPX - "LET IT HAPPEN... IN SMALLER DOSES."



1. Role Remodeling

2. Prozac

3. Your Turn

4. Never Learn

5. Begin To Start

6. Swing Set Girl

7. Sick Boy

8. Oh Donna

9. Rock And Roll Girl

10. Lifetime Enlightenment

11. Let It Happen

12. So Kill Me

13. Want Ad

14. Move To Bremerton (Extended Version)

15. Chick Magnet (Demo Version)

16. Christalena (Demo Version)"