Everclear

Everclear: Sparkle and FadeSparkle and Fade (1995)
EMI Group

Reviewer Rating: 4.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: GodfatherGodfather
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on October 16th 2005So yeah, I just threw in Everclear's Sparkle and Fade. You probably remember these guys from their radio success, "Santa Monica." The trio, especially lead singer Art Alexakis, went through a lot of changes throughout their careers and these changes helped to shape their lyrics and mood. Whether the.

So yeah, I just threw in Everclear's Sparkle and Fade. You probably remember these guys from their radio success, "Santa Monica." The trio, especially lead singer Art Alexakis, went through a lot of changes throughout their careers and these changes helped to shape their lyrics and mood. Whether these changes helped their music overall is debatable, but I personally liked them more on their earlier material. Their first album, and arguably their best, World of Noise, was dark and depressing, while the albums to follow went to a more poppy and mainstream sound until I could take it no longer. I had listened to enough of their new lovey dovey, happy bullshit and felt that it was time for me to become one of the cool kids that quits listening to a band because MTV starts sucking them off.

Okay, enough rambling and onto why you should buy this album...or download it, if you want to be a bastard about it. Sparkle and Fade definitely has an upbeat tempo throughout, with only a few exceptions. These guys are certainly not 100% punk, but there are moments during this album that are. Sparkle and Fade is also full of very catchy lyrics, such as "we can live beside the ocean / leave the fire behind / swim out past the breakers / and watch the world die." Those lyrics pretty much sum up my life when I'm having an 'emo' day and being happy just isn't cutting it. My favorite songs on this album have changed during different times in my life, but the one song that will always be dear to me is the closer, "My Sexual Life." I'm sure that many of you emo kids out there can relate to the words of this song. The lyrics could be interpreted in different ways, but in essence, it is about the fact that you can never hide from your past, especially in a small town. It's about the frustrations that relationships can bring and how differently men and women view these relationships. Art sings "My Sexual Life" with all he has and it is obvious that this song means something special to him. I only wish that he could have used some of the brilliance from "My Sexual Life" on some of his later works.

In conclusion, this album is a must have for any fan of pop-punk despite its content usually being classified as hard rock. Please do not judge these guys because of the sappy songs you heard on the radio or MTV. Everclear may have dominated the suckness from 2000-2004, but they were once cool punk rockers. Give these guys a chance, and go out and get Sparkle and Fade the first chance you get; they will not disappoint you. Peace.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (May 3, 2006)

the second half this album is the best. i like the songs that were not way way way overplayed on the radio

Anonymous (October 23, 2005)

Evercler is just awesome i have all of there cds and a cd by colorfinger, a band art alesakis was in before everclear. but yeah sparkle and fade is an awesome cd

AlmostPunkEnough (October 18, 2005)

dazed, yea, Sublime was out in 95. i heard it for the first time around November of that year. i remember kids used to bust my balls cause i liked punk stuff, but also cause i loved Everclear but didn't like the Smashing Pumpkins at the time. though i eventaully gave in and really liked "...Infinite Sadness" a lot.

Anonymous (October 17, 2005)

"This album "Destroyed" everything else?

1995 releases:

Lifetime - Hello Bastards
Pennywise - About Time
Green Day - Insomniac
The Pietasters - Oolooloo
Face to Face - Big Choice
Bouncing Souls - Maniacal Laughter
Quicksand - Manic Compression
Mike Watt - Ball-Hog or Tugboat?
All - Pummel
Riverdales - S/T
Mephiskaphales - God Bless Satan
No Fun At All - The Big Knockover
Social Distortion - Mainliner
Presidents of the USA - s/t
Swingin' Utters - Streets of San Francisco
Blink 182 - Cheshire Cat
No Use For A Name - Leche Con Carne
Dead Fucking Last - Proud to Be
Fugazi - Red Medicine

Would you like to retract your statement?"

I have half of these albums and the other half I do like. However, I have to say Sparkle and Fade is better than any of these in my opinion, with Insomniac being a possible exception.

Another thing, although I love this album, what the hell does it have anything to do with pop-punk?

-riotgear666

dazed (October 17, 2005)

Sickboi's list is pretty interesting to me because "Insomniac" was the next album I started listening to all the time after this one and after I got "About Time" I quit listening to most of this "alternative" stuff at all. Still, this band was a lot better than Marcy Playground, Sponge and Sugar Ray plus they wrote one song that I still enjoy to this day.

PS - wasn't Sublime's s/t out in '95 too? I hadn't heard of most of those bands or albums back then but everyone knew of that one and it's hard to argue it's not better than this too.

swingline (October 17, 2005)

i watched too much vh1 when i was around 12.. so i kind of like this shit. along with marcy playground, the new radicals, third eye blind, and jimmy ray.

boba_fett (October 17, 2005)

these guys were friggen awesome when i was in high school. havent heard anything by them in a while now...

ElVaquero (October 17, 2005)

What else came out in 95?

A couple little albums called And Out Came The Wolves and Hoss. For metal we had Slaughter Of The Soul and The Jester Race. For dancehall, just 'Til Shiloh and Prophecy. Even the Deftones' debut album was way better than this poop. Guitar Wolf and Melt-Banana both released early albums. Something called Dear You came out. Oh yeah, Refused had an album too.

It's still not cool to be anti-anti with this shit. It's just bad music, no matter if liking it makes you look even-handed.

Big_Guy (October 17, 2005)

So Much For The Afterglow is an awesome album

Anonymous (October 17, 2005)

Swingin Utters are a really great band that gets better from album to album..people will treat their albums as classics whereas all these emocore, (most of the) metalcore and mtv alternative bands will be traded at your local second hand dealer for shit...you may not believe now...just wait...it lasted many years till black flag, devil dogs etc. were treated as cult

SilentStorms (October 17, 2005)

Maybe so sickboi, but it doesn't mean they're good.

AlmostPunkEnough (October 17, 2005)

hahaha, noooo sickboi, not you?!?!?!?!

sickboi (October 17, 2005)

I just like to fuck with people :)

Mr_Pink (October 17, 2005)

Lifetime - Hello Bastards - Not big on Lifetime (I'm old)
Pennywise - About Time - Nope
Green Day - Insomniac - My favorite Green Day album, but I preferred Sparkle and Fade *at the time*
The Pietasters - Oolooloo - Not a Chance
Face to Face - Big Choice - Eh
Bouncing Souls - Maniacal Laughter - Hadn't discovered them *at the time*
Quicksand - Manic Compression - Nope
Mike Watt - Ball-Hog or Tugboat? - Loved everything Minutemen ever did, but I was never into this at all.
All - Pummel - Good, not great
Riverdales - S/T - Didn't know of this *at the time*
Mephiskaphales - God Bless Satan - Nope
No Fun At All - The Big Knockover - Nope
Social Distortion - Mainliner - I know it's blasphemy, but I prefer later SD
Presidents of the USA - s/t - Oh please
Swingin' Utters - Streets of San Francisco - You got me there
Blink 182 - Cheshire Cat - Absolutely not
No Use For A Name - Leche Con Carne - Nope
Dead Fucking Last - Proud to Be - Nope
Fugazi - Red Medicine - First half is the some of the best stuff they ever did.

Don't read things so literally. So I got a hyperbole problem, sue me. I'm not retracting shit, though. You're a really useful contributor to this site, sickboi, but not everything people type is an indictment on your favorite bands.

AlmostPunkEnough (October 17, 2005)

sickboi. i agree that this is not anything more than somewhat trendy alterna-pop, but in my opinion it's the best that genre produced. i didn't listen to much stuff that was on the radio back then, but for some reason i liked this. you mentioned Marcy Playground and Spounge, the difference between that and this is that this had more than just one or two singles on itm this has 7 good songs, in my opinion. i'm not saying it's a masterpice or anything, but i have really good memories associated with it.

i was really into 'About Time' back then, still listening to 'Dookie' and i had just gotten 'No Control' for the first time. i was obsessed with At The Gates 'Slaughter of the Soul' too. so i guess listening to one radio rock album wasn't that bad. i've only liked 2 or 3 other mainstream albums since then. oh, and the PotUSA came out later that year, but that was solid. fuck you kitty.

and Swingin' Utters kicks much ass.

Anonymous (October 17, 2005)

[The Davis has been away for awhile...and that cock smoker Bustamante's been getting mad props off me, but whatever...]

The Davis loved this album and this band for awhile [about from 1995 to 1998] until the Davis realized that this band doesn't want to play the heavy guitar songs anymore...

[Summerland, Electra Made Me Blind, etc.]

Still, the heavy shit didn't detract my utter disappointment when that double album "Songs from an American Movie" came out...

Gee, I hope someone reviews a Goo Goo Dolls album next...they sure played hard back in the day...

Gray Davis
Special Counsel
Loeb & Loeb

colin (October 17, 2005)

good job with that list sickboi. man what a year '95 was for releases. you could probably put that list up against hte '05 list we'll round up at the end of this year and contend that music has substantially regressed as a whole.

sickboi (October 17, 2005)

If thats sarcasm, then, well, you know nothing kid.

When its all said and done, the Utters' will be remembered by far more than the Blood Brothers....

SilentStorms (October 17, 2005)

Ahahahahaha Swinging Utters. You kill me. Literally - I'm dead from such a comment. Kaput.

sickboi (October 17, 2005)

This album "Destroyed" everything else?

1995 releases:

Lifetime - Hello Bastards
Pennywise - About Time
Green Day - Insomniac
The Pietasters - Oolooloo
Face to Face - Big Choice
Bouncing Souls - Maniacal Laughter
Quicksand - Manic Compression
Mike Watt - Ball-Hog or Tugboat?
All - Pummel
Riverdales - S/T
Mephiskaphales - God Bless Satan
No Fun At All - The Big Knockover
Social Distortion - Mainliner
Presidents of the USA - s/t
Swingin' Utters - Streets of San Francisco
Blink 182 - Cheshire Cat
No Use For A Name - Leche Con Carne
Dead Fucking Last - Proud to Be
Fugazi - Red Medicine

Would you like to retract your statement?

Mr_Pink (October 17, 2005)

This cd destroyed everything else out there when it first came out. Their later stuff sort of all sounds the same, but Everclear gets the nod just for making this one. And for palying Art's kid's elementary school once and re-working a song into "You Make Me Feel Like I'm Four."

Anonymous (October 17, 2005)

This cd is more punk and has more raw energy than 90% of the "punk that is being released today.

Yeah, this record came out when everyone was into the 90s skate punk (Pennywise, Lagwagon, NOFX, etc.) wave, but those of us who also had a chance to dig this record (I did thanks to my girlfriend at the time) know just how special this disc was.

The same can't be said, however, about their later albums.

*leaves you guys behind in the sparkle and fade*

Anonymous (October 17, 2005)

Good album. Bad review. I loved this cd when I was like 13.

Also, this cd is 0% punk. Don't pretend that it is. And never again describe it as emo. Please punch yourself.

SilentStorms (October 17, 2005)

I fucking dug this cd back in 1994/95. Sue me you bastards!

Godfather (October 17, 2005)

hahaha...i just read my review...hopefully, my next one wont be so lame....im glad im not the only one that still pops this in the ol' cd player every couple years

and colin, that was an outstanding rant...i agree 100%...that shit grinds my gears too

poopypants (October 17, 2005)

that was a good rant colin

poopypants (October 17, 2005)

never really got into these guys, but i loved that 'so much for the afterglow' song

you can find this cd in any used store for 5 bucks

paul

sickboi (October 17, 2005)

Look, I'm not trying to be "punker than thou", because trust me, I'm far from it. But is this what you kids were listening to in grade school.

Scott, you talk shit on Face to Face (whom I credit with being one of my early influences) yet gooble this turd-tacular horseshit up?

ElVaquero (October 17, 2005)

what's with all the shitty "alternative" radio rock going on this week? queens of the stone age aren't nearly as terrible as everclear but still pretty god damn fucking bad.

nostalgia's a bitch, you'll maybe realize that shit you listened to in middle school was worthless.

sickboi (October 17, 2005)

Cock-to-the-rock.

Seriously, I listen to A LOT of different genres...but dudes were among the MANY bands trying to cash in on the alterna-pop-punk craze of the mid-90's. You can all drop to your kneees and slob their knobs is you want....as far I I'm concerned, they rank amongst other "classics" such as Marcy Playground, Sponge, Sugar Ray and Smoush Mouth.

In conclusion, thanks, but no thanks.

Anonymous (October 17, 2005)

oh yeah and please dont forget to review all of counting crows, hootie & the blowfish,sugar ray etc.
then we could have some real hard music like unearth, at the gates, in flames, darkest hour
but please never review punk bands like devil dogs, demonics, teengenerate, gun club´or hardcore bands

Anonymous (October 17, 2005)

""Ironically, I accidently broke this CD this week."

That's not ironic, it's coincidental."

i dont know, i had a huge expectation of him not breaking his cd accidentally this week, and an expectation that his cd is not the kind of thing that by its definition would be broken in that way.

but its still not ironic, its totally poetic justice.

wyzo

AlmostPunkEnough (October 17, 2005)

bush > everclear - no. not ever.

colin, you're exactly right.

superdude, i bow to you.

Anonymous (October 17, 2005)

"Ironically, I accidently broke this CD this week."

That's not ironic, it's coincidental.

cut_the_mullet (October 17, 2005)

"Jesus fucking Christ. Everclear? How about we just start reviewing every alterna-rock band from the nineties? Good fucking God..."

Yea, I would much rather have another anti-flag review or something. I can only listen to punk rock myself and I completely dispel any other form of music that has ever been recorded. It's tragic that other people have many tastes in music

Anonymous (October 17, 2005)

I can't even comprehend how consistently awesome Superdude is. Jones the Bones = Superdude, as far as all-out awesomeness goes.

burntorangepeel (October 17, 2005)

Ironically, I accidently broke this CD this week.

Sparkle and Fade's good, but I like So Much for the Afterglow much much more.

dazed (October 17, 2005)

I loved this album so much in 8th grade.

I still like it today, although only in small doses. The only song I woiuld listen to more than once or twice a year is "Santa Monica" but it definitely hits me with the nostalgia trip.

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

It's official: BYO Records have the WORST international mail order service ever. I ordered some stuff from them in July, and I've yet to receive it. I e-mailed them about it 9 days ago, and they still haven't responded.

Oh, and this band's name should be Everqueer!!!!!!1111111111111111111

-Chinatown

Russe11 (October 16, 2005)

I love you superdude.

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

My favorite album of all time. Back in high school, I could just relate to almost everything on that album. Afterglow was also a really solid album. Hell, World Of Noise was also good too.

I think the band fell off after Afterglow, Art seems to just have really beaten his lyrical content to death now, he can be a great producer though.

But, really. Just a great album for me.

superdude (October 16, 2005)

My comment was pretty good, but here's why I lack direction:

1. I look at my computer through a series of mirrors. Sometimes I get mistaken.

2. The right.

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

"2. Why didn't the dude on the left's mother clean him up before taking the picture?"

wouldnt that be the right?

superdude (October 16, 2005)

This review was pretty good, but here's how I would make it better:

1. Those kids are WAY too young to be making music

2. Why didn't the dude on the left's mother clean him up before taking the picture?

3. That dude's hair! WOW!

4. I wonder if they're taking resumes?

5. What?

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

Lolz

colin (October 16, 2005)

Have punknews reviews hit bottom yet?

what, would you rather have the site review every shit demo ep from myspace lookalike acts?

chances are people don't review albums unless they like them or they're on staff. albums that a lot of people are interested in don't come out often, and good albums are even more rare.

everclear is a good 90s alt rock band that put out a couple really substantial discs. while you might have been hardcore since birth, some of us have a musical timeline that started out with green day, nirvana, and then bands like everclear and the smashing pumpkins and weezer. it's not that these bands are punk per se, but they do lead into a genre of music that, in the end, gets you to the against me cassette your friend gives you, the small basement shows and the whole "punk" scene.

reviewing everclear is perfectly fine in my book. it's better than constantly posting reviews as if they're just promotions to go look at the bands purevolume page. this is an established record that has a lot of good content, content that is lost on most of the vapid musical landscape of today. the honesty that was in this album isn't seen in the most "emo" of records today. back then musicians had integrity and could write like poets. i'm not saying there's no bands around today that can do this, i'm just saying if you want to review something, then fucking do it. if not, shut the fuck up.

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

Bush > Everclear

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

Yeah, cause he's a wife beater. Do me a favor, go fall in a hole and die.

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

Goddamn, I dunno what's worse: that this album was reviewed on here or the album itself.

Art A. can fuck off, that's for sure. I'm sick of hearing him whining about his daddy leaving. yea, we've all got problems. Boo hoo. Shut up and go beat on your wife some more, baldie.

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

Have punknews reviews hit bottom yet?

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

I've thought of getting this on several occasions...it's $3.99 at wherehouse music

Jesse (October 16, 2005)

Jesus fucking Christ. Everclear? How about we just start reviewing every alterna-rock band from the nineties? Good fucking God...

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

Horrible review, solid album

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

I love the central-california vibe from this album. Whenever I listen to this it reminds me of driving up the coast from LA through Santa Barbara and Summerland all the way to Santa Cruz... so many memories

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

Okay, so this album gets posted as a review, but when I submitted KMFDM's tour schedule last week, it didn't get posted. I would argue that KMFDM is at least as "punk" as frigging Everclear.

-Ken

the_other_scott (October 16, 2005)

one of these dudes plays in the ooh-las now

they aren't very good

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

this is a wonderful album they don't get much better than this

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

Every second on this disc is genious.

If I had to pick my favorite record of all time, this would definately be in the running. Too bad their last few records lost the raw edge of the first few.

maverick (October 16, 2005)

This album and So Much For The Afterglow should be essential in any rock fan's catalog. Such incredible albums. They've really fallen off in recent years (the tour with Matchbox 20 was their death knell, as far as I'm concerned), but you can't tell me that those two albums completely reign.

-Scott

elliot (October 16, 2005)

my cousins live in portland, and they see art alexakis walking around all the time. he winked at one of them. sounds like he's kind of a douche.

but yeah, when i was 13, this album ruled me. and ever since then, i'll dig it up, remember every word to every song, and love it all over again. definitely one of those albums that transports you back to the time in your life when you were obsessed with it.

gregs (October 16, 2005)

Great band and album. 'Heroin Girl' is one of my all time favorite songs. The video for that song is great, too.

Godfather (October 16, 2005)

i figured this would stir up some nostalgia

"Let's just drive your car
We could drive all day
Let's just get the hell away from here
For I am sick again, just plain sick to death
Of the sound of my own voice
We could leave behind another wasted year
Get some cheap red wine
And just go flying"

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

everqueer

AlmostPunkEnough (October 16, 2005)

i'm drunk as ass and i've been listening to this for the last hour playing beer pong. god so good. i love saturday night reviews tehy always remind me of something i used to love.

"we could find a place make it what we want it to be, no one really gives a fuck about us anyway..." god, it sounds so lame typde out, but it's so fucking good. makes me wish i was a freshman in high school again.

and yea, i used to love the mandatory skrits at my HS.

score is for being drunk and listening to this.. and litte skirts... and beer pong.

ok i'll stop posting in this thread.

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

I fucking love this album - it's a shame none of their other albums hold a candle to this.

colin (October 16, 2005)

man i got all fucked up tonight

decided to put this on

JUST A NAME ON THE MAP IT SOUNDS LIKE HEAVEN TO ME!

Rawls_with_Balls (October 16, 2005)

'95 eh? Damn, I'm statrting to feel like I'm gettin' on in years. But yeah, this album dominated a certain part of my life and I'll always have the urge now and then to dust it off.

Favorites: 1) You make me feel like a whore
2) My Sexual Life
3) Summerland
4) Santa Monica
5) Strawberry

We're talking grade ten here, so score is for Catholic high school uniforms. How I misss those kilts.

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

this is an awesome pop-punk album. One of my favourite albums ever

Dante3000 (October 16, 2005)

I'm bored on a saturday night...So a better example of their darker later work would have been "All Fucked up" off of Songs From an American Movie Vol. II that is one of their best songs to date. But I haven't listened to anything after that album, so they may have fallen off.
-Dante

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

PS. I can see where you say its more commercial, but i don't think their later work was really not dark. Here's an excerpt from 'Wonderful'; I hope my mom and hope my dad will figure out why they get so mad. i hear them scream. i hear them fight. they say bad words and make me wanna cry.'

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

YES! Everclear was an integral part of my middle-school life until i discovered Rancid, but i still have a soft spot for them.

Dante3000 (October 16, 2005)

Two words: "Heroin Girl". That is all.
-Dante
P.S. Isn't this "PUNK"news?!?! OH BURNINATION.

skaboom (October 16, 2005)

I haven't heard the newest album, but their fairly recent American Movie albums, while being very poppy, are far from upbeat and happy.

localh (October 16, 2005)

that was me below....

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

Hell fuckin' Yeah one of the best records ever recorded in my opinion. Every song on this cd is amazing! Strawberry, Chemical Smile, and Electra made me Blind are my favorite tracks. Santa Monica is a classic as well. I have been listening to this cd since it came out when I was a 5th grader and have never gotten sick of it.
World of noise is really good as well....

Anonymous (October 16, 2005)

such a solid album way back when

too bad art went loco

kenjamin (October 16, 2005)

Didn't you ever have an English teacher that told you to never use "in conclusion" to start your last paragraph?

kenjamin (October 16, 2005)

score is for the last track.

AlmostPunkEnough (October 16, 2005)

shit, i forgot how much i loved some of these songs... "You Make Me Feel Like a Whore", "Summerland" and "Heroin Girl" are all awesome. jesus, i have so many memories with these songs. one of the few popular bands i wasn't 'too-cool' to listen to back then.

i'll bump this to an 8

Big_Guy (October 16, 2005)

I own this and that other one that is pretty good

I forget the name

I like them both

inagreendase (October 16, 2005)

I have a burned copy of this I haven't listened to in years, but yeah, it ain't bad.

colin (October 16, 2005)

fuck

yes

"summerland" is still one of my favorite alt-rock tunes. everclear was such a great band. they sort of fell off the map, but this album and "afterglow" will always be some of my faves from middle & high school.

AlmostPunkEnough (October 16, 2005)

i actually loved this cd back in the day. everyone always thought it was the Adam Sandler CD taht was out around the same time cause the covers looked the same.

anyway, there's some great pop-rock songs on here. a little bit of crap too. haven't listened in years though, i'm gonna see if i can find this.