Everclear - 'Ten Years Gone'

by Matt Parks

Breaking through in the mid-Nineties, Everclear was one of the most of the best and most ambitious bands of the second wave of grunge. By the time the band hit it big with 1995’s ‘Sparkle and Fade’, Everclear had already been together for three years and singer/guitarist/songwriter Art Alexakis, well into his thirties with years of drug use behind him and a young daughter at home, was a candid and remarkably articulate songwriter who had a knack not only for tunes but for stories, too.

Their 1997 follow-up ‘So Much for the Afterglow’ placed the band’s big riffs and acutely personal songs in a more elaborate California pop music context complete with layered production, string and horn arrangements, and prominent vocal harmonies. Three years later, Everclear delivered ‘Songs from an American Movie’ Volumes 1 & 2, a before-and-after pair of well-crafted autobiographical concept album based on the divorce Alexakis was going through at the time. Both records continued to refine the layered production the band had experimented with on ‘Afterglow.’ Things were already changing in the pop music world, and by the time Everclear released 2003’s ‘Slow Motion Daydream,’ the band seemed to have reached something of a creative impasse.

‘Ten Years Gone: The Best of Everclear 1994-2004’ compiles 21 of the band’s best tracks (including the remarkable, career-making “Santa Monica”), showcasing a band that was most of the more consistent singles artist of the era.There are plenty of good songs here, but, inexplicably, ‘Ten Years Gone’ omits three of Everclear’s charting singles—“Heartspark Dollarsign," "One Hit Wonder," and "Out of My Depth"—instead including the non-album track “Local God” and a cover of Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys are Back in Town.” Despite this, ‘Ten Years Gone’ is an excellent introduction to the work of what has proven to be one of the more credible bands of the ‘90s.

Playlist: “Santa Monica,” “Heroin Girl,” “I Will Buy You a New Life,” “A.M Radio,” “When It All Goes Wrong Again”