MATTHEW SWEET
Time Capsule - The Best of Matthew Sweet 1990-2000 (Volcano)
Reviewed by Steve Marshall

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Back in the early 90's, grunge was all the rage. By the time Matthew Sweet released his third album, 1991's Girlfriend, there wasn't much room for a power pop musician. But Sweet managed to be able to rock out with the best of them, courtesy of guitarists Richard Lloyd and Robert Quine. The album's title track became one of the biggest songs of the alternative era. Jump ahead to 2000. Sweet's records have been somewhat hit or miss in recent years, but he's always managed to come up with a few decent tracks on each one. As with any greatest hits collection, there will always be some debate over which songs are included and which ones aren't. In this case, most of his best material is here, with a few glaring exceptions--"Evangeline" and "In Too Deep."

When I first looked at the track listing on Time Capsule, I was a bit disappointed. But when you listen to it, it's surprisingly consistent. None of the tracks from Sweet's first two records are included. Instead, the disc starts off with four tracks from Girlfriend. Each of his following albums is represented here, plus the obligatory two new songs--"Ready" (which is the better of the two) and "So Far." The things that are missing are the non-LP tracks that have been released over the years. Sweet has always been one to put out singles (both promotional and commercial) with tracks that didn't appear on the albums. His covers of tracks by The Beatles and Neil Young have been consistently good, and there has been an abundance of great B-sides over the years too--none of these appear on Time Capsule.

Still, the CD provides a well-rounded view of Matthew Sweet's post-1991 catalog, and that's what it was meant to do. Time Capsule is a good (but not quite great) overview of one of the 90's best power pop artists. If you're just discovering Matthew Sweet, this is an excellent place to start. Longtime fans may be a little disappointed, but will still find the CD quite enjoyable.

TRACK LIST:

Divine Intervention * I've Been Waiting * Girlfriend * You Don't Love Me * Time Capsule * The Ugly Truth (acoustic version) * Devil With The Green Eyes (remix) * Someone To Pull The Trigger * Sick Of Myself * We're The Same * Where You Get Love * Until You Break * Behind The Smile * If Time Permits * What Matters * Hide * Ready * So Far

© 2000 - Steve Marshall