Perhaps
the reason Everclear appeals so much is that it combines great
rock music with heartfelt lyrics. World of Noise was a sort
of wake up call to the drugged out character, and although
certain references are confusing, you can tell Art was singing
about a painful chapter in his life. Sparkle and Fade was
a recovery album, about Art’s life in San Francisco.
It was autobiographical and, what I like to call the Santa
Monica Set (Santa Monica, Summerland, and Strawberry), are
not only hits, but are a major catharsis for Art. In fact
Art’s favorite song by Everclear is Summerland. As Art
wrote the lyrics for every song except for the covers and
the Honeymoon Song, it would be easy for Art to put a lot
of emotion in his songs. So Much for the Afterglow was less
autobiographical and a bit bitchier about the world than the
other albums. It represented a significant change in Everclear’s
music, but again not its lyrics or its taste. Some of the
songs are not autobiographical, but still all are heartfelt
and moving. Perhaps I’ll be Hating You For Christmas
is the most fervently powerful song on the album. Learning
How to Smile closest cousin would be Colorfinger’s Deep
in the Heart. It sounds not like country, but a sort of easy
listen rock ‘n’ roll. Older folks can get into it,
specifically AM Radio, maybe because it is about the era they
grew up in. The entire album is heartfelt, and almost rather
depressing because of the love it pushes. Yes, it is a divorce
album, but still it is more loving than some other albums
and songs that said ‘fuck off’ rather than, ‘can’t
we work it out’. It is again hardly autobiographical
but than again it Art means it. Maybe since this was supposed
to be a solo album that might have given it the right touch.
Good Time for a Bad Attitude sucked. In my opinion, only Song
From an American Move Part 2 was decent it was heartfelt,
as a few others were, and I also liked the music. The entire
album stank of too much pop and bad rock ‘n’ roll,
and it was only slightly autobiographical. Art is the little
brother and he doesn’t have a friend ‘Spike’.
Rockstar is just another change in the rock of Everclear,
but it is plain confusing and a little bit lame. El Distortdo
de Melodica (Yeah, I know I misspelled that) is better then
Halloween Americana just because I said so. It has nothing
to do with that devilish laugh mixed into the song. The best
little bit of Art’s past on the album is the reference
to ‘when the bed’s on fire’. For those of you
that know Art’s past, listen to When it All Goes Wrong
Again and you’ll know what I mean. NEXT TIME: You’ll
get something
else!!!
