Oddly enough, at one time I owned all of The Dream Syndicate's albums except for the hard to find Medicine Show. I discovered them by association...I was a huge Concrete Blonde fan when I was a teenager, and their singer Johnette Napolitano had done a duet with Steve Wynn, who I found out was in a neo psychedelic band in the 80's called the Dream Syndicate, whose music sounded right up my alley, so on a purchasing binge I went.

And in the end, I was pretty disappointed. The only album of theirs I had actually enjoyed was Ghost Stories, so Out of the Grey and Days of Wine and Roses went back to CD Heaven in Coral Springs. But!

Flash forward to about, oh, 2002

One afternoon, I pop into Sound Exchange, who happened to be playing Days of Wine and Roses as their in-store music. I remembered it, and this time, I actually liked it! So I made a mental note to repurchase the album, but I found their "best of" in the budget bin first.

Which was too bad for me.

But before I explain why, what can I say is good/useful about this collection?

1. It's a great summary of the Dream Syndicate's career, allowing the listener to sample all the band's phases/line-ups: their super artsy, feedback drenched Velvet Underground aping phase (Days of Wine and Roses), their less artsy, feedback drenched, psychedelic roots-rock phase (Medicine Show), and finally, their more mainstream-ish, feedback drenched Neil Young aping rawk phase (Out of the Grey, Ghost Stories).

2. As is typical of a Rhino release, it's lovingly packaged. The booklet and liner notes are colorful and informative.

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However, despite considerable critical acclaim, most of the Dream Syndicate's songs on this "best of" collection are surprisingly boring. Many of the tracks are overlong and repetitive, and lacking a sense of drama and dynamics. The majority of the collection is padded with decent psychedelic rock that's just kinda "there."

It's probably most logical to review the collection by the band's "phases" because their line-ups and general sound were all different from each other...the only constants throughout the Dream Syndicate's career were rhythm guitarist/lead singer/main songwriter Steve Wynn and drummer Dennis Duck.

The "Karl Precoda/Kendra Smith Era"

Line Up:
Steve Wynn: Guitar, Vocals
Karl Precoda: Lead Guitar
Kendra Smith: Bass
Dennis Duck: Drums
Representative Album: Days of Wine and Roses (rel. 1982)
Representative Album Tracks: When You Smile, Tell Me When It's Over, That's What You Always Say, Halloween, Days of Wine and Roses

Days of Wine and Roses was the LP that contained the Dream Syndicate's least accessible, but most interesting music. The album's detached, moody art-punk didn't click with me at all when I purchased it as 16-year old. Odd how a decade or so can change your perspective. Objectively, I can still find fault with the tracks from Wine and Roses that are included here, but I keep coming back to them, which is more than I can say for the rest of the collection.

It's funny, but I think my initial gripes with the material were valid. For instance, I still kinda hate Karl Precoda's guitar playing. His self consciously avant garde shronking gets annoying and causes the songs to overstay their welcome. On the bass, Kendra Smith had about as much technical talent as I do (read: barely any.) This is endearing to me in some ways (and it was fun figuring out all her simple, repetitive lines in one afternoon) but glaringly annoying in others, given her instrument's prominence in the mix. And Wynn takes on the persona of a bored, self-absorbed peckerhead with his laconic vocals...I remember that he even kinda looks like a bored, self absorbed peckerhead on the Days of Wine and Roses album sleeve.

So why do I like these tracks? Well, it's all about the "mood"...and it helps that the songs buried beneath the feedback are actually good. There's a dark poetic undercurrent running through this music that I had missed the first time around. There's more of a spark on these tracks than on their other material, and there's more chemistry between the band members. (But there's still little textural variation, thanks to Precoda and his oddly stiff, monochrome feedback leads.)

Wynn's lyrics are really simple and evocative; I've always loved the line "History kinda pales when/you and it/are alig-ned" (from "When You Smile"). And I have to give Smith credit for coming up with the moody melody line that runs through the highlight "That's What You Always Say." "Halloween," "Days of Wine and Roses" and "Tell Me When it's Over" also get a lot of mileage from their detached, moody, cool artsy "vibe."

The "Karl Precoda/Dave Provost Era"

Line Up:
Steve Wynn: Guitar, Vocals
Karl Precoda: Lead Guitar
Dave Provost: Bass
Dennis Duck: Drums
Representative Album: Medicine Show (rel. 1984)
Representative Album Tracks: Merittville, Medicine Show, Burn

Given my personal taste, this is the Era of the Dream Syndicate I should like the most. More Listenable, Colorful Psychedelic Guitar + Pretty Roots Rock + Band Shedding Their Velvet Underground Worship and Doing Their Own Thing Should = Happy Helene. Precoda is much less irritating on Medicine Show; his tendencies toward gratuitous atonal noise are severely reigned in, and perhaps because of this, the "sell-out" boo-birds came chirping out of the woodwork upon this release. This is of course ridiculous, considering this is still music mainstream radio would never touch, cleaner production and more "big rock" sound be damned. Since the Dream Syndicate managed to alienate both the artsy college rock crowd that worshiped Days of Wine and Roses and the commercial tastemakers of the time, Medicine Show was a complete flop saleswise. Which makes me want to like the music even more.

But I'm not excited about the material. It sounds good, and there's individual instrumental touches I like, like Provost's malevolent bass line on "Medicine Show" and the breathtakingly pretty piano melody on "Burn." Problem is, it's just dull. The songs are overlong and have very little dynamic variation. Wynn's nasally voice is more expressive here, which is welcome, but his songwriting isn't as appealing. He's switched from a poetic to a narrative style of lyric writing; which would be fine if the tales he spins were interesting...but they're not. These tracks from Medicine Show should be my cup of tea...but they're not. Sadly, I've relegated them to the "inoffensive background music" file.

The "Paul B. Cutler/Mark Walton" Era

Line Up:
Steve Wynn: Guitar, Vocals
Paul B. Cutler: Lead Guitar
Mark Walton: Bass
Dennis Duck: Drums
Representative Albums: Out of the Grey (rel. 1986), Ghost Stories (rel. 1988)
Representative Album Tracks: Boston, 50 in a 25 Zone, Now I Ride Alone (Out of the Grey) The Side I'll Never Show, Loving the Sinner Hating the Sin, I Have Faith (Ghost Stories). Also included is a b-side cover of Eric Clapton's "Let it Rain."

Ah. Now we reach the point where the Dream Syndicate reformed after a brief hiatus, and I'm guessing Wynn listened to a lot of Neil Young records during the break. He hired a like minded, Crazy Horse worshippin' guitar player named Paul B. Cutler, and they went on to record two Big Rawk albums. One of these albums sucked major a** and the other is merely solid.

Unfortunately the tracks from Out of the Grey still sound as bad as they did when I purchased the album as a teenager. The production job on these tracks is godawful...it's the kind of stiff, mechanical gloss typically found on a generic 80's blues-rock release. "Boston" is spiked with teeth grittingly cheesy keyboard work and "50 in a 25 Zone" plods along on a dull blues riff and stiff, shronky leads. Neither have strong melodies or interesting lyrics. As objectively stupid as "Now I Ride Alone" is, I sort of like the track, because part of me really wants to believe it's an over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek parody of an "Outlaw" song. On that level, it succeeds. (Complaint: The live version of this song included on Ghost Stories is a bajillion times better. How come Rhino didn't use that one instead?)

The selections from Ghost Stories are an improvement, due to the more open, listenable production. But I liked these tracks more when I was 16; now they sound rather ordinary to me...it's solid, blues n' psychedelia tinged guitar rock that's pleasant but unexciting. But I still have a soft spot for "I Have Faith":

A promise is easy to make
A heart is so easy to break
But I have Faith

I know, I know...it's hokey, but Wynn sounds so darn sincere on this. And the guitar melodies on the verses are really purty.

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Well--after all that, I still think the Dream Syndicate are a very overrated band, and I'm done spending any more money on their stuff. For the curious, this is good place to start, as it gives you a taste of all their incarnations. But for me--this is the place to end.

Note: I really, really like Steve Wynn's solo effort Dazzling Display...it's a charming chamber pop album that I'll be sure to tell you about in detail some day.

Recommended: No