Album Review

Strangely, I only rediscovered this album a couple of weeks ago, after it had remained dormant at the bottom of one of my many boxes of CDs. I bought it around its UK release date after seeing the video for "No Rain" on MTV. Like many people who subsequently heard "Change," I was taken in by the lighthearted, vaguely rocky-folky sound and the lilt of Shannon Hoon's voice, which I later found less assured in a live setting than in the studio.

No doubt the release of those two semi-acoustic songs was a clever marketing decision, but it worked wonders. The drums at the beginning of "Soak the Sin" signaled a bold change from the overplayed singles, and its half-tempo passage made me realize I had discovered something remarkable. "Tones of Home" starts with a jazzy, plucked guitar and simply makes you happy. "I Wonder," by far the best song on the album and one that helped define the style of Soup, still sends shivers down my spine. Its opening verse has stayed with me.

Other highlights include "Sleepyhouse," which evokes memories of great summers, and "Time," which rivals R.E.M.'s "Find the River" as one of my favorite album closers. If you can get past the egotism of "Dear Ol' Dad" and recognize "No Rain" for what it is, the single that opened doors for the band, you may find that this album changes your life.

Few people in the nineties could write lyrics like Shannon Hoon, and few bands had such a distinctive approach without being confined to an obscure genre. Take my advice: buying this album is a musical investment.

- Peter