CD Now!
Search:

  
Smoke Shop
 
LinkShare-Get Your Share!

All pages copyright ©1999 - 2010 Big Beef & Beer dot Com.


Big Beef Music Review

By Tim

Click to hear In ReverseEveryone has their favorite artists... the artist whose album you buy the first day it is released and listen to one thousand times in the first week. An artist whose next album you cannot wait to hear, even if it is the greatest hits album. No matter how bad everyone else says the album is you will listen to it until you find some redeeming quality. Well, my favorite artist is Matthew Sweet. As you might have guessed he released a new album recently and I have listened to it for the last two weeks straight. The album is called In Reverse and released under the Volcano Entertainment record label.

As with all his albums, Matthew Sweet wrote all the songs, sang all the vocals, and played many of the instruments on the album. Yes, as you might have guessed, he is a very talented artist. He made the big time with his album Girlfriend and the song by the same name (one of my favorite songs of all time, the video is great too). Since then he has produced four albums, all of about the same quality and music. Matthew Sweet sings generally about adult relationships and takes a melancholy approach to the pain and heartbreak it can cause, at times. Rolling Stone Magazine wrote about In Reverse:

Sweet isn't just making tidy date music here - he has something real to say about the passage of time and the wisdom that comes after youth.

Matthew Sweet's voice is smooth and clear but at times high pitched. But the vocals are very well matched and mixed into the music, creating an awsome sound. The music is great with an appropriate mixture of drums, guitar, and other instruments and sounds. In developing songs, Sweet attempts to create unique sounds and does this with a variety of new ideas and instruments. For example, on this album he uses a steel guitar, electric harpsichord, and horns played backwards.

Matthew Sweets thoughts on the album:

One of my best-reviewed albums and one of my own favorites! Having a whole production "team" of my friends made this one a joy to make. I like the combination of the big spector-esque sound with psychedelic backwards instruments, and the very personal songs. I wanted this one to be exotic, and to have a sense of being an experience sonically for the listener, rather than just a collection of singles. The artwork features an amazing painting from 1963 by Margaret Keane, from our personal collection of original big-eyed oil paintings. I thought it lent to the Alice in Wonderland quality of the album. Also not to be overlooked--the CD package is backwards! Hint for the confused: the spine goes to the right!

I rate this album 4 BB & B's for Matthew Sweet music lovers and 3 BB & B's for everyone else. I recommend that everyone should have a Matthew Sweet album or two in their collection. Make sure you listen to this (and all) his albums a couple of times before you pass judgement, they grow on you.

Visit In Reverse at CD Now and buy this album for $13.49. At Border's bookstore this album sold for 17.99. Also visit the the Matthew Sweet site at CD NOW and review the tracks from this album as well as his other albums.

Ranking:   out of 5 BB&B's.

URL: www.matthewsweet.com

Listen to Matthew Sweet

Rankings





CDNOW's
TOP 10:
3/16/00

Supernatural - Santana

Two Against Nature - Steely Dan

Machina-Machines Of God - Smashing Pumpkins

Bye Bye Bye - N Sync

On How Life Is - Macy Gray

Fly - Dixie Chicks

Stiff Upper Lip - AC/DC

TV Soundtrack - 2Gether

Brand New Day - Sting

Bloodflowers - Cure