One of my most listened to albums over the years, this is one that I bought for the radio single, “No Rain”, listened to that 1 song for about a week and then put the cd away for about 10 years. On a whim one day I put it in the cd player in my truck and was pleased to hear something unique and different from anything else I had been listening to.
The sound was very guitar oriented and very low key. Unlike most of the other albums/ bands they were not a high energy, get you movin’ kind of band. It was not a depressing sound per se, but more of just an even keel, chill kind of sound. It’s almost embarrassing to say (since I am writing about it) but it is kind of hard to describe. The description falls somewhere between the slightly distorted guitar tones, clear two guitar rhythm, the above average percussion beats, and Shannon Hoon’s haunting vocal sound. His sound and style are both soothing and chilling with the relaxed eloquence that he sings with and the pitch that he hits at just the right time.
The disc certainly evokes many emotions, it just tends to be a darker side of them. Songs like “Sleepy House”, “Drive”, “No Rain”, and “Change” are all songs that could be dissected to mean a million different things (everything from self preservation, road exhaustion, to heroin) but the thing that is undeniable is the ability of this band to evoke multiple emotions. Each of these songs has very soothing melodies, with dark lyrics and black laced vocals.
This is by far one of the most mysterious discs I have and every time I listen to it I hear something different. Shannon Hoon, rest in peace and thanks for the melodies
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