Upon hearing Damnesia's version of "Clavicle" I was pretty chuffed to hear a decent retake on an old school classic. Many Alkaline Trio fans remember that one for its desperate lyrics and angsty shout at the end. It wasn't as boisterous or raw as the original, but it was slick, clean and it was generally pleasing. "This could be love" was next to be revealed. Brilliant. Fantastic. Some would say better than the original. But when a 2nd song is released from an upcoming album that has also been done before, regardless of how good it is, spells a 'best of' type album. Problem is that this is a mixed bag. Some songs are general best from the albums and others are personals or ones you don't care for.

This is essentially an acoustic album. Basic drums, acoustic bass & guitars and a bit of piano. 3 new tracks. 1 of them by Dan, surprisingly average and 2 from Matt, a cover of "I Held Her In My Arms" and "Olde English 800" that can't really been taken seriously. You'd have to be an avid fan of the Trio to buy this or hold it in high regard, the first few fan reviews around being generally positive. "Calling all skeletons", "We've had enough", "Mercy me" and "You've got so far to go" all sound as you'd expect really and don't offer much. "Blue in the face" is completely redundant as its practically the same as the original. Hearing tracks like "Nose over tail", "Every thug needs a lady" and "Private eye" are however, a good listen and even the toned down, more complex "Radio" is fairly good too, even without the brutal cries from a young Skiba, as is a simpler, chilling "The american scream". Its difficult to justify this album because the reasons for it are questionable. It can't really be money because they aren't the most well known band. It could be that the band simply wanted to do what they wanted to do. Admirable. Not worth the default price for a new cd, despite the number of tracks. Not bad, but not really necessary either.