BLACK IS THE NEW BLACK

[yourstupidgame]

Alex.. I really hope a TV performance is coming. But I wouldn't count on it..

And why aren't there any recordings of the S&F Tour FFS?

If they didn't do a TV performance this time around, I think that would be the most surprising thing of all. They've always managed to do one before for each single even for Slow Motion Daydream, Drama Club and Invisible Stars. What show do you think would be most suited for their current heavier sound? Probably not Fallon, and Letterman is almost done...

Usually, I'm annoyed by the number of people taking video at concerts, but this time, we really need it!

Alex

[Frasbul]

It's doing great in New Zealand though. Debuted at #37 last week and reached #9 now. It's actually higher than Blur's Magic Whip.

About the TV performance.. I think Conan would be pretty cool. Or maybe Kimmel.

[PureWhiteEvil]

Yeah. I'm listening the crap out of this album and really digging it. Also, it's the first time in a while that I've been excited to see Everclear live. I ended up grabbing the VIP package for the NYC Irving Plaza show to treat myself. Looking forward to a kick-ass show (though I'm not expecting much of the new album to be played, of course).

Any indication that they're going to do their own tour (i.e., NOT a Summerland tour)? I feel like the new album would get played live more if that's the case.

[Sea Change]

I really enjoyed the lyric video for The Man Who Broke His Own Heart, but I'd love an actual music video. I know many artists don't do them these days, though. At this point in the album promotional cycle, do ya'll think it's out of the question?

[grantprobst]

bands like Everclear don't return to the mainstream regardless of how good their new stuff is. It's like once the magical force that controls what's popular decides you're done, you're done.

It certainly is a weird mystical power, too. I sure don't get it.
It's like the radio still worships and plays bands like the Foo Fighters, Green Day, and Red Hot Chili Peppers whenever they release new material.
Yet, bands like Everclear (with a fairly similar style of rock from the same era) gets blacklisted? Makes no logical sense to me.

Am I the only one that remembers Invisible Stars 3 years ago???

I love Invisible Stars.
My good friend George (who used to post on these boards) wasn't very impressed with it, though.
So, maybe it's more polarizing somehow?

I don't know, I guess I'm just weird and out of touch, 'cause I think Invisible Stars is easily as strong as So Much For The Afterglow, in my eyes.
I mean, Afterglow is great and all, but I think it's the most overrated of Everclear's albums.

Am I the only one that still can't really listen to drama club? That album is so strange to me. Most of it doesn't even sound like EC to me.

Drama Club is probably the weakest of Everclear's actual albums.
I think the production of it is just a little underwhelming in comparison to other albums. It has the most intrusive "carnival sounding keyboards" to it.
And the compression being used on the final tracks also seems a little intense! I found "The Vegas Years" seems to share this same issue.

That being said, there are still a lot of great songs to be found on it.
Drama King, Your Arizona Room, Under The Western Stars, Portland Rain, etc... those are some sweet tunes!

[yourstupidgame]

bands like Everclear don't return to the mainstream regardless of how good their new stuff is. It's like once the magical force that controls what's popular decides you're done, you're done.

It certainly is a weird mystical power, too. I sure don't get it.
It's like the radio still worships and plays bands like the Foo Fighters, Green Day, and Red Hot Chili Peppers whenever they release new material.
Yet, bands like Everclear (with a fairly similar style of rock from the same era) gets blacklisted? Makes no logical sense to me.

Sad because I'll say it again: Black is the New Black is a better album by far than Foo Fighters' Sonic Highways. Their Wasting Light from 2011 was excellent. Sonic Highways was like the afterthought of the excellent documentary. Clever idea, but the album didn't turn out great. Maybe just a little too clever.

I don't know, I guess I'm just weird and out of touch, 'cause I think Invisible Stars is easily as strong as So Much For The Afterglow, in my eyes.
I mean, Afterglow is great and all, but I think it's the most overrated of Everclear's albums.

Woah, woah, woah! Whaaaaat?!!?!? You gotta expand on that. First, where do you rank Afterglow in Everclear's discography? Secondly, where do you perceive others ranking it? Thirdly, maybe you should just rank all the Everclear albums.

I think most fans see Sparkle and Fade or Afterglow as their best. For me personally, I think Afterglow is their best and it's my favorite. So I might be one of the overraters in your opinion. But it's Afterglow! I think there were a few years where I thought Vol. 1 might have been their best because some of the songs were really strong. But after all this time, I say Afterglow is number one! Too much of side two of Sparkle and Fade doesn't resonate with me to be my number one.

That being said, I did think Invisible Stars was a return to form the way all the reviews say the new album is. I get where you're coming from with that.

Alex

[grantprobst]

I don't know, I guess I'm just weird and out of touch, 'cause I think Invisible Stars is easily as strong as So Much For The Afterglow, in my eyes.
I mean, Afterglow is great and all, but I think it's the most overrated of Everclear's albums.

Woah, woah, woah! Whaaaaat?!!?!? You gotta expand on that. First, where do you rank Afterglow in Everclear's discography? Secondly, where do you perceive others ranking it? Thirdly, maybe you should just rank all the Everclear albums.

I think most fans see Sparkle and Fade or Afterglow as their best. For me personally, I think Afterglow is their best and it's my favorite. So I might be one of the overraters in your opinion. But it's Afterglow! I think there were a few years where I thought Vol. 1 might have been their best because some of the songs were really strong. But after all this time, I say Afterglow is number one! Too much of side two of Sparkle and Fade doesn't resonate with me to be my number one.

That being said, I did think Invisible Stars was a return to form the way all the reviews say the new album is. I get where you're coming from with that.

Alex

If I had to rank them all today, according to my favorites:

Slow Motion Daydream
Invisible Stars
Sparkle & Fade
Black Is The New Black
So Much For The Afterglow
World Of Noise
Good Time For A Bad Attitude
Learning How To Smile
Welcome To The Drama Club

So yeah, I get that this list is fairly atypical.

Maybe I just got burnt out on Everclear setlists always being so full of Afterglow songs when they play live. (Same old hits again and again.)

Also, I feel like the production of Afterglow (while really cool), makes Art's voice sound too squeeky clean.
If you listen to "Live From Toronto," or even the "Pure White Evil" demos, I think it shows how his voice can sound a lot more natural (and a lot more like the Sparkle & Fade era).

Now, don't get me wrong, the vocal editing on Afterglow is miles better than the cheap auto-tune they employed on the abysmal "Return To Santa Monica."
Afterglow is slick, polished, and has many great songs! Yet, I miss hearing the wrinkles and cracks sometimes.

It's been ironed out to perfection (and I'm the kind of guy who just likes wearing wrinkled clothes a lot).

It's funny though, I was just thinking about starting an album ranking thread earlier today. Probably still should (now that we have a new album to add to the list)!

[yourstupidgame]

If I had to rank them all today, according to my favorites:

Slow Motion Daydream
Invisible Stars
Sparkle & Fade
Black Is The New Black
So Much For The Afterglow
World Of Noise
Good Time For A Bad Attitude
Learning How To Smile
Welcome To The Drama Club

Wow, that's definitely an unexpected ranking. Not only is Afterglow not your top but you have FOUR others ranked above it. Interesting for sure. Especially Slow Motion Daydream as the #1.

Alex

[sdilley14]

My own personal ranking for the hell of it...

Sparkle & Fade (1a)
So Much For The Afterglow (1b)
Invisible Stars
Black is the New Black
Good Time For a Bad Attitude
Learning How To Smile
Slowmotion Daydream
Welcome To the Drama Club
World of Noise

[northwestrocker]

bands like Everclear don't return to the mainstream regardless of how good their new stuff is. It's like once the magical force that controls what's popular decides you're done, you're done.

It certainly is a weird mystical power, too. I sure don't get it.
It's like the radio still worships and plays bands like the Foo Fighters, Green Day, and Red Hot Chili Peppers whenever they release new material.
Yet, bands like Everclear (with a fairly similar style of rock from the same era) gets blacklisted? Makes no logical sense to me.

I as well think this all the time when I hear another mediocre and bland Foo Fighters song on the radio. I used to be a huge fan but honestly their music is so boring and predictable now it's a joke, and EC's last two albums have been way better than the Foos. I think at the end of the day industry people feel that EC had been out of the mainstream too long to make a big investment in them, which is sad because I believe 'Complacent' could be a solid single on the radio.

On an unrelated note, I've been thinking it'd be cool if Art used his time in the early/mid 90's Everclear/Portland scene as the subject of songs in the future. He's wrote a lot of music about his early life and divorces and becoming the person he is today, but not a lot seems to ever come from his life when he started to "make it" and dealing with everything that came along with it.

[Sea Change]

Now I have to do my ranking also

SMFTA
S&F
IS
WON
SMD
VOL2
VOL1
WTTDC

I can't rank BITNB yet since it's just way to early to tell.

[yourstupidgame]

Wow, the three previous album rankers scored Invisible Stars super high! That's pretty cool - I wonder if Art knows hardcore fans really think a lot of that album. I'll try to rank...

So Much for the Afterglow
Sparkle and Fade
Invisible Stars
Black is the New Black
Learning How to Smile
World of Noise
Slow Motion Daydream
Good Time for a Bad Attitude
Welcome to the Drama Club

Turns out I'd rank Invisible Stars high, too! Based on the fact that I really like 11 out of 12 songs, it has to be up there! It's definitely early to put Black is the New Black in the ranking, but I tried to. I couldn't quite tell if it should be above Invisible Stars or not.

The weird thing about Slow Motion Daydream to me is that in my opinion, the first two songs are not very special, "Beautiful Death" is a little better, then you have the catchy single and finally, I feel like the album gets going with track 5 and stays pretty great to the end. I couldn't tell if it should be ahead of World of Noise or not. I gave World of Noise the edge on the greatness of Fire Maple Song, Nervous and Weird, Sparkle and Loser Makes Good.

Alex

[Frasbul]

Alright, let's do this.

1. So Much For The Afterglow
2. Sparkle & Fade
3. Volume I
4. Invisible Stars
5. Black Is The New Black
6. Slow Motion Daydream
7. Welcome To The Drama Club
8. Volume II
9. World Of Noise

I love WON, but I don't listen to it very often because of the production. It would be ranked way higher otherwise. It was very hard to decide between S&F and Vol. I.
Where would you guys rank DITHOTBITS if it were an everclear album?

Random thing I just noticed. BITNB is the first album title that doesn't have a connection to a song:

(DITHOTBITS=Kill the Sun)
WON=The Laughing World
S&F=Summerland
Vol. I=Song from an american Movie
Vol. II= Song from an american move pt.2
SMD=Sunshine
WTTDC=Now
IS=Be careful what you ask for
BITNB= ?

[clifornia_king]

Random thing I just noticed. BITNB is the first album title that doesn't have a connection to a song:

(DITHOTBITS=Kill the Sun)
WON=The Laughing World
S&F=Summerland
Vol. I=Song from an american Movie
Vol. II= Song from an american move pt.2
SMD=Sunshine
WTTDC=Now
IS=Be careful what you ask for
BITNB= ?

I thought about this the other day - seems like something Art has always done - wonder why this one is different.

1) SMFTA
2) SAF
3) WON
4) Invisible stars
5) BITNB
6) vol 2
7) vol 1
8 WTTDC
9) SMD

I think 4-8 are all pretty equal in my mind - really just depends on the mood that day.

[Deano]

Still loving this album. Invisible Stars grew on me but this has taken hold straight away.

Here's how I'd rate the albums:

Sparkle & Fade (this was the first EC album I bought, still love playing along to it on guitar)
So Much For The Afterglow (Very close to first place, love the lyrics on this one)
SFAAM Volume 2 (it's not perfect but I like the rockier side of EC)
Black Is The New Black (This is hard to place at the moment, but I like it a lot)
Invisible Stars (Took me a while to appreciate all the tracks, but now I love it)
SFAAM Volume 1 (Would of been higher but I could live without 'The Honeymoon Song, Brown Eyed Girl & Annabella's Song)
World Of Noise (Again would be higher if the production was better)
Slow Motion Daydream (Again I don't like the production, and songs like 'How to win..' and 'New Blue Champion' are just EC on autopilot to me)
Welcome To The Drama Club (I like it but there are some less than stellar tracks on here).

Aside from the top 2 the others would all fluctuate, but this is how I feel today.