If i could write id tell you.. (The Best Of The Lemonheads: The Atlantic Years - The Lemonheads)

Member Name: kylecoare

Product:	The Best Of The Lemonheads: The Atlantic Years - The Lemonheads
Date:	26/03/04 (262 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some classic pop rock moments

Disadvantages: no older material, a little lightweight

THE LEMONHEADS - BEST OF (THE ATLANTIC YEARS)
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Best of albums are always a hit or miss affair, they either do what they say on the tin and give you the best possible tracks from a bands career, or on the other hand they could just pick a bunch of singles and call it a best of.

The good thing with best of albums is that you don't always have to wade through a tonne of album filler material to find a decent track, and if you haven't brought a bands complete back catalogue they can give a good insight into what the band is all about, giving you the option at a later date to trawl through their albums.

So when i heard that The Lemonheads had released a best of album i was quite happy, as id already heard a lot of their albums, and whilst i was impressed with a fair amount of the tunes on offer I also found quite a lot that didn't really affect me.

The Lemonheads formed in 1987, when two high School kids, Evan Dando and Ben Deily, decided it would be cool to form a band.
They recorded a few punky but ultimately throwaway albums, which they got a little bit of success from, especially "Lick", with its cover of Susanne Vega's "Luka"
But all was not well in the world of Lemons, Dando and Deily had a falling out, with both quitting the band then returning, but soon it was all left to Dando to take control.

The band, basically Dando and a few people that he could drag in from other bands etc, were signed to Atlantic records and released even more records.

In 1990 they released their first album for Atlantic "lovey", which as with their earlier albums got a little press but lacked that certain sparkle that was to follow.
This was followed by the real breakthrough album, "Its a shame about Ray", which sold a fair amount mainly due to the popular cover version of Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs Robinson&quo
t;
The band went on to release a further two albums,"come on feel the lemonheads", "car Button Cloth"

Then as so often happens with rock stars Dando went off the rails a little, taking too many drugs and drinking too much, even turning up to an interview even though he had lost his voice, and being found in an airport covered in blood asking if anyone had found his mind, well they hadn't, but since then he has and he has been busy getting rehabilitated and has found his love for music again!

THE BAND MEMBERS.
-----------------

As this is a Lemonheads collection it would be stupid to mention everyone that has ever played with the band, a number which at last count was around 50 different people, but the main members on this collection are as follows.

Evan Dando - Guitar and Vocals.

oh wait im sure there were some others as well...

Juliana Hatfield - Bass and backing vocals.
David Ryan - Drums.
Nic Dalton - Bass.
Patrick Murphy - Drums.
Bill Gibson - Guitar and Bass.
and tonnes more...


THE ALBUM
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This collection contains a massive 19 songs but a not so massive running time of 56 minutes, so most songs are about three minutes each, which is about right in my book.

well seeing as there are 19 songs im not going to review all of them, else you would all die of boredom and id get arrested for multiple murders, which isn't something I really fancy, so Ill just pick a small selection and bore you with them instead!

---CONFETTI---

This song is the perfect opener to the collection, it has all the properties you want from a good Lemonheads song.

Musically this is a fairly upbeat tune, with some nice jangley guitar chords keeping the main tune together, with a very poppy but still rocking little riff.
The drum playing is pretty fast paced and brings an extra level to the song, which really lif
ts it to a higher level.

Lyrically this seems a little simple and unfortunately this is one of the downfalls of the band, really most of the actual lyrics are poor, but when they are mixed with the nice poppy tunes and Dando's slightly drawled vocals they all sound like a soundtrack to a summer from the 60's.


---INTO YOUR ARMS---

This song is all about Dando's voice for me.
With a steady simple guitar riff which is fairly catchy and some nice drums which are pushed quite far into the mix so they are only just noticeable, musically this isn't a fantastic song, but where it all comes to life is when Dando starts to sing.

Now Evan Dando isn't a brilliant singer, he certainly doesn't rate in my top 5, but he can string a few lines together nicely with a nice sense of melody, and that's what he does here with great effect, again his voice has a slight southern American type sound to it, which just adds that extra kick.

This is just a nice, inoffensive pop song, which can be enjoyed by almost anybody.

---MRS ROBINSON---

Anyone not heard this?
Oh well i don't really need to review it then...
..But i cant help myself, this is just pure pop fun, I never get sick of this tune.

Originally a hit for Simon and Garfunkel years and years ago, the original was brilliant, and this version just gives the original an extra sprinkling of pop punk type vibes and we are onto a winner.

The Lemonheads version was recorded in one take, so its basically a live track, and originally the band didn't want it releasing, I bet they soon changed their minds!

Musically from the opening chuggy guitars to the final chord this is bouncy, joyful stuff, with a nice bubbly bass line and drums which hit at just the right time, perfect.

Dando's vocals suit this style of song perfectly, giving the original song his own style and making it his own song. <
br>
---RUDDERLESS---

This one is a little darker sounding, although still firmly stuck in the trademark Lemonheads pop style, it has an almost acoustic feel to it, with a chuggy, stop start guitar riff, which stays in your head for some hours.

This makes really good background music, its not really a great tune or anything, but it does have that certain something that makes it very likeable, without ever reaching any new ground.

This is the main problem with the Lemonhead's music, it is either intensely catchy, strange or just plain background music.

---RIDE WITH ME---

The only song on this collection that comes from their first Atlantic album, and even then its not the same version as on that album!

This song is a nice acoustic strum along, with just Dando and his Acoustic guitar, a sense of things to come in future years.

The really strange thing, is that this works so much better than some of the full on band efforts on the collection, this actually shows some of the talent that Dando has for writing a catchy yet thoughtful tune.

Vocally this is one of the better efforts on the album, it is raw and unaltered and you can hear each crackle in his voice, which actually gives it a bit more depth than some of the more over produced tracks.

---ITS ALL TRUE---

This is taken from the bands final album, 1997's "Car, Button, Cloth"
This tune gives a bit more body to the sound of the Lemonheads, with a much louder sounding guitar riff, which really suits the style of the band.

This is probably my favourite song on the album, I just love the way the crunchy guitar riff gives way for Dando to place some quite tuneful vocals.

This was recorded after Dando had gotten all of the strange illegal substances out of his system, and shows a more thoughtful vocal and lyrical performance.

---IF I COULD TALK ID TELL YOU---

This is anothe
r slice of perfect pop rock, it has all the ingredients required...

1 tbspn hooky guitars.
2 ltrs crashing drums.
1g sugary pop tune.
22mls likeable introspective vocals.
No added colours or preservatives.

Nice tune to just play before going on a night on the town, because by the end of the night the title will fit perfectly!


---DOWN ABOUT IT (ACOUSTIC)---

This was recorded during the sessions for the "come on feel the lemonheads" album, and again goes to show that they didn't really need any loud guitars or crashing drums, the songs seem to have a much better feeling to them when played acoustically, and they end up less throwaway and lightweight.

Dando's voice also sounds a lot better on the acoustic songs, giving a lot more depth and feeling to his voice than on the louder songs.


---HOSPITAL---

This is a bit of a throwaway effort, you can imagine Dando writing it in a few spare minutes, yet its also a fantastically catchy tune which really goes to show that the best songs don't have to have a lot of neat tricks or added production.

The song opens with a plinky piano playing well out of key and then suddenly we get a simplistic three chord guitar riff, which is simple but extremely catchy.

Then Mr Dando again pops up with another effective vocal performance, which just oozes with poppy melodies.

OTHER SONGS

The rest of the collection includes "Its a shame about Ray","The great big no","My drug buddy","Big gay heart","Its about time","Rudy with a flashlight","into your arms(acoustic)","Being around" and "Rick James acoustic style"
which are not bad songs, in fact some of them are really good.

OVERALL
-------

Well im left with a difficult responsibility here, do I recommend this collection?
That would b
e a yes, but also be warned that although most of the songs on here are good, and some are intensely catchy, they are also quite lightweight, and this will probably not be a cd that you keep in your player for months to come, its one for when your in the mood for lightweight pop with rock elements.

Also because this is only based on the bands Atlantic Records years, it doesnt even touch upon some of the older material, which would have made this a bit more interesting, but thats another problem with best of albums in general.

Thanks for reading, any comments?

Kyle.

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