#3 Modern Rock Hits: The mid-90's heyday

mookieproof, that sounds really familiar, must be on ILX somewhere I think! I'm hearing it in my head like "He has the crowd. The crowd loves him. ART ALEXAKIS IS IN THE HOUSE!"

hmm, did find xhuxk linking to his SPIN review though, which may address balls's speculations above

98 is probably where it's really starting to be evident (i think more 99 though) but seeds are sown w/ that 96 lollapalooza and the huge success of 311 and sublime. really as these charts have kinda shown the pre-nirvana was kinda primary succession species but post-nevermind the more plausibly headbangers ball acts are driving them out and by the late 90s they've established near total dominance, and gotten more suburban metal. the early hard acts had some hard rock in there (generally more so than they had new wave or college rock) but there was still some adherence to some idea of angst and cool - they were actually alternative maaan. this gets kinda worn out or passed over due to certain anti-market tendencies in those acts aesthetics ("cool") and by 2000 you have fred durst as the predominant altrock star, someone no more alt than sebastian bach in persona (not the case even w/ adam duritz, nevermind vedder/corgan/reznor/cobain/stipe).

found it, on this thread: 90s rock bands no one cares about; pick one - - - http://connected-i.com/2011/07/02/art-alexakis-canyon-music-review/

that demery quote is interesting, that the big indie acts haven't been able to really break thru on radio has been kinda interesting to me - modern rock radio format arose cuz acts like the cure and depeche mode (and pre-87 u2 and rem) were selling albums in numbers that couldn't be ignored, there was a market there and a station looking for a niche (at a time when the radio market was more naturally competitive, obligatory shaking of fist at telecommunications act of 1996) could tap into a market that was being ignored and was attractive to advertisers. the gap between arcade fire and justin timberlake's sales is nothing compared to the gap that existed between the cure and michael jackson's sales and yet those acts (that fill much much larger venues and sell more albums than 90s indie acts, nevermind yr husker dus and replacements, did)(one reason i don't really sympathize w/ the nitsuh nymag grizzly bear argument) can't really catch a break on altrock radio (even if arcade fire knockoffs like 'hey ho' can). i've heard arguments also that altradio doesn't go after that market cuz that market doesn't listen to radio they just listen to spotify or mp3s, and lack of promotional muscle is a factor i'm sure - merge ain't got the budget that elektra did in 1987. also frankly i think alot of it is the music, whatever the most radio friendly spoon or arcade fire track is it doesn't approach 'just like heaven'.

omg thank u

When wired Alexakis controls stadiums of people with a simple look.

http://www.glguitars.com/featured_artists/everclear/artguitarmag.jpg

btw have we really never done "Worst Everclear Single" or am I just not searching right?

"The History of Glam -- before Velvet Goldmine"

man I've no trouble with Everclear. Old-ish dude moderates his guitar attack ever so slightly and scores some convincing hits.

It was kind of funny watching radio jump on each successive single like "oh, THIS one will..." Like, I remember "In Hiding" getting a real buildup.

Here it was "Faithfull."

"In Hiding" was actually the last gasp of the "random Pearl Jam album cut that gets so much radio airplay it charts" phenomenon, although i somehow forgot to make it a poll option here: Pearl Jam songs that charted without being officially released as A-sides

That Guitar Magazine cover is one for the 'men who look like old lesbians' thread.

Everclear also noteworthy for their recent records consisting mostly of re-recorded versions of their older, more popular songs.

wikipedia also telling me that Alexakis put together an alt-rock oldies-circuit tour with Sugar Ray, Lit, Marcy Playground, and the Gin Blossoms

I have no use for Everclear after Sparkle & Fade. Everything after that was so repetitive and dull, cynically mining his dysfunctional family life for a buck. It probably was from the start, but "Santa Monica" and "Summerland" were the right songs at the right time for me, and they're too wrapped up in nostalgia for me to look at them critically.

Voted "Malibu" because that was the song Courtney Love was basically born to sing. Well, that and "Celebrity Skin."

this list of songs made me shudder

watch the world die

It was a huge revelation to see Beck doing "New Pollution" on SNL with his Devo/Kraftwerk-aping keyboard player. Everything else was pretty much miserable.

it would be hard for me to defend "wonderful" but i would try

Did I tell you I didn't cry? Well I lied. I lie-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie lied

''Wonderful'' was just such a dramatic ''well, these guys are straight up out of material'' moment for me. And then they followed up with ''AM Radio,'' which...christ.

lol i forgot about that one

If you squint at the video you can see the other bandmates repeating to themselves that the paycheck is worth it, the paycheck is worth it.

Everclear also noteworthy for their recent records consisting mostly of re-recorded versions of their older, more popular songs.

― intheblanks, Tuesday, January 7, 2014 10:13 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

bahahahahahaha

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Xt0QnQ3-L._SY300_.jpg

I wish I could forget "AM Radio."

so much for the afterglow has one of my favorite guitar tones of all time, sounds like fifteen guitars piled on each other all of the time. lots of weird threads of ambition anchored into three-minute three chord songs on that record.

HAHAHA

Track Listing:
1. Santa Monica
2. Wonderful
3. Father Of Mine
4. I Will Buy You A New Life
5. Everything To Everyone
6. I Won t Back Down
7. Unemployed Boyfriend
8. The Joker
9. I Will Follow You Into The Dark
10. Every Breath You Take
11. AM Radio
12. Brown Eyed Girl

well of course i have to listen to this now

also lol/wtf at "Wonderful" actually being their highest-charting Hot 100 single, surely this is just an artifact of "Santa Monica" et al not benefiting from airplay under Billboard rules at the time?

sounds like fifteen guitars piled on each other all of the time.

it's the post-Vig nineties sound. Celebrity Skin too.

surely this is just an artifact of "Santa Monica" et al not benefiting from airplay under Billboard rules at the time?

Non-sales singles couldn't chart on the Hot 100 until 1998 (wow, coincidence??).

Anyone else have a sweet spot for "You Make Me Feel Like a Whore"?

wow, surprise surprise, this album sucks, total contract-filling crap. Was hoping Art would have tried to show his reflective thoughtful side by redoing "Santa Monica" as a slow acoustic ballad, or with a guest rapper or something. They even fake the Jean Knight sample for "AM Radio"!

"Santa Monica" actually did have a physical single though, and it did chart (#29 on the Hot 100)...

oops, wait, my bad - not released in the US, I guess that would kill it, huh?

it's the post-Vig nineties sound. Celebrity Skin too.

yep, but i also like how well it applied to everclear songs. gave it a punchier, brighter feel

Check that Wikipedia footnite:

A ^ "Santa Monica" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 29 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.

ahhhh, got it got it. My bad. Man, what a rip. It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, but I hate the way it totally distorts band's picture/narrative/legacy. Also, picturing upstart "Wonderful" fans trying to lord its "biggest hit" status over the historical record.

I still think "Awful" is the best thing to come out of Celebrity Skin but it always seems to get overlooked...

"Wonderful" was by far their biggest adult contempo crossover hit, though, so for a lot of people it is their biggest song

I wonder why Capitol approved Alexakis' idea to do a Use Your Illusion-style double record, but with the second entry released four months later.

re: "Wonderful" as the "these guys are straight up out of material" moment, I think most people who liked or kind of liked Everclear probably felt the same way. The second "Songs From an American Movie" record debuted at #66 and has sold 100K, after the first one hit #9 and is platinum.

The Fuddy/Duddy Experience

it was their "New Jersey"

i never even HEARD the single from the 2nd 'American Movie' album, only a 5-second clip in commercials for the movie Antitrust

Yeah, looking at Everclear's wikipedia page, it seems like Capitol said, "Sure, release another record, whatever, but we're only going to promote the one you released a few months ago"

It really does seem baffling in hindsight, given all the failed alt-rock records we've discussed from several years earlier. Could any band just have walked up and gotten two records in one year? Yeah, no promotion, but somebody paid for a video for "When It All Goes Wrong Again." Granted, it has some movie clips, but otherwise it seems to be mostly Art mugging just like the ones before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdQjqY9JDmI

The idea, IIRC, was that this was the "rock" side to the previous "pop" album.

I recall at the time they were supposedly loved by critics and marketed as some kind of modern The Who (intelligent power pop?) but I never really cared for them.

Maybe Capitol thought that this was the one that was really going to break them big, maybe move them from successful double-platinum alternative band to giant rock stars

Like it'd be their Mellon Collie, or something. Still don't understand why they'd approve releasing the albums months apart, though

I got So Much For The Afterglow, Celebrity Skin, and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998 from cdnow for $1 each, new. those were the days

Songs From an American Movie, Vol. 1: Learning How to Smile [Capitol, 2000]

All doubts as to Art Alexakis's punk bona fides are hereby laid to rest--he doesn't have any. Instead he chooses to whup Dave Grohl, the jerk from the Verve Pipe, and if there's any justice Rob Thomas in postgrunge's Bryan Adams sweepstakes. The corn he indulges on this fondly detailed end-of-a-marriage song cycle has nothing to do with abstracted teen agony and everything with classic Garth Brooks, except that Garth never waxed nostalgic for the days he and his honey whiled away watching porn and eating Chinese. Laying on strings, horns, synths, and backup vocals to a fare-thee-well, it makes honest peace with a pop moment when honest pop is the toughest artistic challenge there is. Volume two will supposedly return to the guitar-o-rama of his roots--without any loss of principle, one trusts. A-

*rubs temples*