keepers-2
keeper avg .154
While "The Oaf"**** is now a mere 90's footnote, the downright soaring chorus "ooh my luck is wasted" was at least as good as anything STP or any of the antecedent bands Big Wreck emulated. It does suffer from comically complex production, including tremolo solo, mandolin, and a country hoe-down, but it doesn't completely overshadow the song's merits. No other song on the album is as memorable, though other songs also favor melody over grunge, the best of which is "That Song"****, which is more similar to "Friday I'm In Love" than "Plush". "Look What I Found" and others go for a bluesy grind, though STP also has this approach covered. "How Would You Know", "Fall Through The Cracks", and "Between You And I" squander decent melodies with brain dead riffs and clumsy or jarring transitions.The obvious problem with almost all the songs is that except for "The Oaf" there are no elements here that STP, themselves happy on the coattails of the grunge first wave, did not already do better, though Thornley is probably more technically proficient than Dan DeLeo. STP had a song that sounded just like "By The Way" on each early album, likewise the combination of chugging riffs combined Led Zeppelin-y mystery; and Eddie Vedder had already discarded the constant gravel-throat for actual singing, so the unfortunate practice could be picked up by crap-masters Nickelback.
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