Talk about getting more than you bargained for. A few short years ago, we were told the Posies had broken up. Yet between 1999 and 2000, we have seen a plethora of Posies releases (two live albums and a Best-of), a brilliantly executed acoustic tour, and now, a four-CD box set of unreleased Posies material? If all bands who break up are this active, I hope all my (other) favorite bands break up too.
Now let's examine what we have here. Four (!) CDs of previously unreleased demos, live recordings, a few scattered b-sides, covers (Blondie, Cheap Trick, Big Star, MC5), and most amusingly, actual Muzak recordings of two of yr favorite Posies hits. For the hardcore-Posies head, this is manna.
While it's really not necessary for anyone other than devout Posies fanatics, their greatness would be obvious to anyone listening to this box. Put simply, Ken and Jon are exceptional songwriters, two of the best we've seen in the past twenty years or so. Startlingly insightful, literate, bitingly sarcastic, with a talent for pop melody that rivals the greats (McCartney, Difford/Tilbrook, Chilton/Bell). It's all here, and it's all blindingly obvious. Even on these outtakes. This is a testament to the Posies; a band that combined the melodic genius of Big Star or Badfinger and the lyrical brillance of an Elvis Costello, and who on an angry day could rock as hard as Nirvana or Mudhoney.
The demos are interesting, since many of them are full-band performances simply stripped of the various production styles used on whichever record they ended up a part of. For instance, it's fascinating to hear various Dear 23 songs without John Leckie's tower-of-swirling-echo production and realize how some benefited from it ("Any Other Way") and some would have been better off left alone ("Help Yourself"). Likewise, Amazing Disgrace songs like "World", "Fight It (If You Want)", and the particularly brilliant "Throwaway" shine equally when stripped of their grungy-guitar bombast.
The early recordings are equally fascinating; the charmingly ernest pop of "Thinking Outloud" or "I Don't Want To Talk To You", the rough early live recordings of Failure favorites "Believe In Something (Other Than Yourself)" and "I May Hate You Sometimes" (it's a shame that this box is missing "Saying Sorry To Myself", which previously appeared on the Yellow Pills Vol. 2 compilation and, for me, is the epitome of their early earnest/psychoanalytic period).
It may be intended just as a treat for fans but this box also effeciently tells the band's story. How Jon and Ken had grown from something great and beautifully naive to something far more complex, as seen on songs like "Burn and Shine" (heard here in an acoustic live performance) by the end of their (first) career. Through it all, their intelligence and inate sense of melody carried them through.
Here's hoping the story continues for a long long time.
This box set is an absolute necessity for any serious Posies fan and a great addition to the collection of any "power Pop" entheusiast. Not only is it filled with catchy and poignent songs but it shows the musical development of talented teens to worldly rock stars. From the first live performance all the way to the real sign of success in today's world, muzak versions of their "hits" it is consistently pleasing. There are live versions that show vital energy that was sometimes lost in the studio recordings, shown especially in the first track of the second disc, "Flood of Sunshine". There are demos for other track that give insight to their creative process and the development of their songs. And who can beat a Bill Nye the Science Guy treatment of one of their songs as well as the National Anthem in the now rubble-ized King Dome. This collection is legendary and a pure delight.
Being a long time fan of the Posies, it is hard for me to listen to this cd and not be immediately pleased with just being let into this world of Ken & Jon's. A honour and a pleasure listening to some of my favorite Posies melodies in the fella's original recorded attempts. Not only is this a great fan item, but these four CD's have more to offer beyond fan product. CD 3 is exceptionally beautiful in it's instrumental beginning, it's rocking Blondie cover and some favorites on 4 track recording. To round out this box set is the inclusion of Ken & Jon's notes to each song, along with pictures throughout the years in the over sized liner notes. Even if you've just recently discovered The Posies or Jon or Ken's side careers (Jon Auer Band, Saltine, REM, Orange Humble Band), I would recommend this box set whole heartedly.
There is nobody like the Posies. I joked a few years ago when I received this CD as a gift that it was the best Christmas gift I ever recieved. Well, that might have been an exageration, but not by much. This 4 CD set has demos, unreleased songs, covers, acoustic versions and more. In a word: awesome. I see the price is now through the roof; more than when I bought it a few years ago, but the music is what you would expect: classic versions of all the favorites: "Solar Sister, Dream all Day, Will You Ever Ease your Mind, and Suddenly Mary", etc.. These classics alone are worth buying this CD. But you also get unreleased/Demos/Studio new music like "Ladies and Gentleman, Pay You Back In Time, Keep Me Guessing, Diary Of An Insecure Girl, What Am I Supposed To Do, Depression Child, and the deeply written Sad to be
Aware" great lyrics). If you are looking for "new" Posies music, buy this album! Please join me in the joy.
I wrote a bad review for Ken's solo CD. I said he should make it up to his fans, and this does, but if your a fan you know, and by now, have this in your collection. It's amazing.
