lambchops's Full Review: Altered Beast by Matthew Sweet
After jumping on to the Matthew Sweet bandwagon well after everybody else (with 1995’s 100% Fun rather than 1991’s Girlfriend), I found myself buying up whatever discs from the singer-songwriter I could find. Most were good, bordering on great. But a few rubbed me the wrong way. One of those later, less impressive albums is Altered Beast.
Sweet has been a part of the music industry since joining the forgettable jangle-pop band Oh-OK. His stint with that act did little to further his career, but what it did do was give him the drive to embark as a solo artist. In 1986, the Nebraska native recorded and released his debut Inside. The over-produced, synthesizer laden, rather bad album is actually more pop than the style fans would later come to know and love. Much the same descriptors unfortunately also apply to Sweet sophomore release Earth. Once again, the production works against the songwriting style of Sweet. But somehow, but some miracle he resurfaced just two years later with what amounts to a masterpiece.
1991’s Girlfriend finds Sweet doing a 180. Instead of thick and useless production, soon-to-be fans found shimmering, happy tunes with an air of innocence and the occasional cynicism. Instead of synths, Sweet incorporated real guitars, piano, and the like to create a truly memorable album. Girlfriend was what the first two LPs should have been and even though it was released in the midst of the grunge movement somehow the uniquely quirky singer-songwriter amassed a fan base.
When Altered Beast arrived on shelves in 1993, fans wanted more of the brilliance of Girlfriend and expected nothing less than perfection. At times, the true Sweet shines through…though at others listeners will find themselves wanting something great again rather than something aspiring to be great but falling painfully short. And it’s not so bad you remember it out of hate, but not good enough to remember it out of admiration. So basically Altered Beast is regrettably completely forgettable and in the scheme of Sweet’s impressive career a bit of a stumble.
What is even worse is that Sweet made the album a bit too long. At fifteen tracks in length, Altered Beast could have easily been cut by a third without losing track of the intended theme. But the issues I have with this disc extend far beyond simple length. Sweet appears at times to have strayed from singer-songwriter and in turn has lost his musicality…a problem he later has with much of the album Blue Sky on Mars. Is it the worst thing known to man? No way, just not up to par with the majority of Sweet’s other work. Should you buy Altered Beast? Well, that all depends on how big a fan you are. If you love the man, lick the ground on which he walks then you should probably already own the album. Otherwise, skip it in favor of Girlfriend or 100% Fun or even the greatest hits compilation Time Capsule.
Altered Beast begins on an extremely sour note. See, Dinosaur Act is absolutely unpalatable and serves as a horrible start to an average (although lovely at times) album. Sweet yowls just over whining and whirling guitars. To make matters even worse, the song lacks a distinct personality or goal. And if the purpose of Dinosaur Act is anger, well it just comes off as theatrical and silly.
In contrast to some of the utter crap here, Devil With the Green Eyes is a better than average track in his catalogue. When Sweet properly does rock and roll, he comes off as a master (as is this case). He blends rock guitars (at times loud and relentless; at other times meek and emotional) tidily with his unique vocal style. In this case, the equation works. Though I’m lyrically unimpressed:
What are you gonna do now
That you're tired of faking it?
Well, it's hard to take it
When you know what happens each time
Even with the occasional flash of beauty, Sweet can’t seem to separate himself from the junk. Ugly Truth is a nauseating track. The talented singer-songwriter can do without the ridiculous use of the electric fiddle. Overwrought and painful (to listen to, not emotionally), the song is easily one of the most problematic on the entire album. Sweet’s voice is lovely, but the melody is boring at best and disdainful at worst. Skip it.
Fortunately, the album once again picks up with Time Capsule. Though not quite on par with the classics from other albums the song does in fact show a different side to Sweet. The country twang is refreshing especially in considering the wanna be rock of much of the rest of the album. The vocals are lovely and the melody resonates as memorable. I guess the fact that this song is decent is reflected in his use of the title later on the cover of his best of collection.
But with two good songs down, most of the rest of Altered Beast is painful fare. A few bright spots briefly redeem the album…Ugly Truth Rock and What Do You Know are the best of the rest. See, the former rocks just hard enough to get people listening but not so obnoxious as to drown out Sweet’s light voice. The melody, vocal harmonies, and energy are refreshing. What Do You Know on the other hand is a very different offering. Soft, sweet, and peppered with lost love and regret the track is gentle and sorrowful. It, in my opinion, ranks as one of the best few of the album and probably one of the most richly emotional of Sweet’s career.
But aside from those songs, nothing ranks as even better than average with most landing somewhere between bad and horrible. Someone to Pull the Trigger leaves me wanting nothing more than to destroy a.) the CD or b.) the CD player. Just anything to get that wailing, yowling, crap of a song to turn off. Others including Knowing People, Evergreen, Falling and Reaching Out deserve a similar fate. The shtick gets old…at least in the case of this album, Sweet has lost his appeal.
While I appreciate that Sweet’s writing is darker than that on Girlfriend, it is not executed well enough for me to respect on Altered Beast. Themes of death, lost love, and pain pervade the fifteen songs but they are difficult to believe…especially as sung by Sweet. While overall the album is average, I can’t recommend its purchase. He has many better albums, many better songs, and many more things that new fans should first experience.
Three full-length albums have followed since Altered Beast, not including the aforementioned Time Capsule: The Best of Matthew Sweet. 1995’s 100% Fun is one of my favorite from Sweet while 1997’s mediocre Blue Sky on Mars is rather unremarkable it contains my single favorite Where You Get Love. Finally, 1999’s In Reverse is a better-than-average disc.
Rating: 3/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Dinosaur Act | 02. Devil With the Green Eyes | 03. Ugly Truth | 04. Time Capsule | 05. Someone to Pull the Trigger | 06. Knowing People | 07. Life Without You | 08. Intro | 09. Ugly Truth Rock | 10. Do It Again | 11. In Too Deep | 12. Reaching Out | 13. Falling | 14. What Do You Know? | 15. Evergreen
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