Melody Freaks
The first eight tracks of this
compilation were previously included on Melody
Freaks. These are demos of songs which, in large part, would end up on Teenage Symphonies To God. The disc
opens with “Hold Me Up,” which would be the lead-off track on that album, and
would also be released as a single. It’s a good, solid tune, with lines like “Time down the road/Nothing much to show/Suffer
as the days/Linger on and on/Miles and miles away/You hold me up when I'm gone.”
That’s followed by “My Blank Pages,” which also follows it on Teenage Symphonies To God. The lines
that always stick out for me are “All I
do, all I say, never close enough/All I do, all I know, doesn’t mean that much.”
(Interestingly, those lines would be changed slightly on the album to “All I think, all I say, never close enough/All I know, all I do doesn’t mean that much.”)
“Time Wraps Around You” has a mellower,
sweeter sound, and is one of my favorite tracks. This song would also be
included on Teenage Symphonies To God.
“This time wraps around you/And I'll wrap
around you/You know I'll stay.”
“Turn Down” is one of only two
songs on this CD not written by the band. It was written by Darren Cooper and
originally recorded by his band, Three Hour Tour, and included on the Valentine’s Day seven-inch. It’s one of
those positive, peppy-sounding pop songs, with the line “We’ll take something bad and turn it around.” And it works. I was
in kind of a shitty mood the first time I put this disc on, and this track
brought a smile to my face. Of course,
it’s followed by a song titled “This Life Is Killing Me,” a harder, rawer rock
number that seemed more fitting to my mood that night with lines like “It's your saving grace, but it's not saving
me” and “I can’t go out, the sky is
closing in on me.”
There is a bit of 1960s jangly
folk-pop to the sound of “Weird Summer,” another tune that would be included on
Teenage Symphonies To God. It’s one
of those tunes you can’t help but like. “Star Trip” kicks right in, without that
intro on the album version. By the way, joining the band on the Melody Freaks tracks are Phil Hurley on
guitar, Mike Deneen on keyboards, Mitch Easter on guitar and David Gibbs on
backing vocals.
Rock Concert
The second half of this disc is
from a concert the band did in Chicago in November 1994, and features live
versions of some of the songs from the first half of the CD. These tracks were
previously released as Rock Concert.
The first track is “Window To The World,” an energetic rock number with plenty
of guitar. Tommy Keene had joined the band at this point, adding another guitar
and voice. This song was the lead-off track to the band’s first full-length
release, In The Presence Of Greatness.
It’s followed by “My Blank Pages,” with the lyrics to those lines I mentioned
earlier delivered as they are on the album.
Also from In The Presence Of Greatness they do “Ash And Earth,” but most of
the songs are from Teenage Symphonies To
God, including “Time Wraps Around You,” an energetic rendition of “Atmosphere,”
“This Life I Killing Me” and “Hold Me Up.” This CD ends with its second cover, “Remember
The Lightning,” written by Ron Flynt and originally recorded by 20/20, included
on that band’s first album. Velvet Crush does a really good, fun rendition. There isn’t much stage banter between songs, just
some thanks and very brief song introductions (like “This song is called ‘Atmosphere’”).
CD Track List
- Hold Me Up
- My Blank Pages
- Time Wraps Around You
- Not Standing Down
- Turn Down
- This Life Is Killing Me
- Weird Summer
- Star Trip
- Window To The World
- My Blank Pages
- Ash And Earth
- Time Wraps Around You
- Atmosphere
- This Life Is Killing Me
- Hold Me Up
- Remember The Lightning
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