Artist: Toad The Wet Sprocket Album: New Constellation Bitrate: 245kbps avg Quality: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.98.4 / -V0 / 44.100Khz Label: Abe's Records Genre: Rock Size: 83.10 megs PlayTime: 0h 45min 11sec total Rip Date: 2013-11-23 Store Date: 2013-10-15 Track List: -------- 01. New Constellation 3:20 02. California Wasted 3:50 03. The Moment 4:06 04. Rare Bird 4:22 05. I'll Bet On You 3:46 06. Golden Age 4:40 07. Get What You Want 3:19 08. Is There Anyone Out There 3:45 09. Life Is Beautiful 3:22 10. The Eye 4:28 11. Enough 6:13 Release Notes: -------- Most people I spoke to responded with three words when they found out 90?s alterna-pop band Toad the Wet Sprocket had reunited and were releasing a new album in October. ôTheyÆre still around?ö Yes. Like many of their brethren, Toad broke up for a number of years before reuniting in time to capitalize on the recent wave of nostalgia for 90?s music. Consider this (consider this!). In the last few years, the following bands have reunited and released new albums or EPs: The Pixies (sans Kim Deal), My Bloody Valentine, The Spin Doctors, Blink 182, Mazzy Star, Suede, Blur, Limp Bizkit, The Gin Blossoms, 98 Degrees, The Backstreet Boys, Stone Temple Pilots (both with and without now-former lead singer Scott Weiland), and Soundgarden. IÆm sure IÆm forgetting a few. Toad may not have hit the same heights as several of their fellow alternative pop bands (The Gin BlossomsÆ breakthrough album, for instance, went quadruple platinum in the U.S. û outselling ToadÆs best known album, ôFear,ö by a factor of four), but they managed to compile a deceptively large collection of memorable songs along the way. If you were a music listener in the 90s, you probably know (and like) more Toad songs than you think. There are the pop hits (ôAll I Want,ö ôWalk on the Ocean,ö ôSomethingÆs Always Wrongö), the songs that made it to BillboardÆs Modern Rock chart (ôFall Down,ö ôCome Down,ö ôCome Back Downö û there may be a ôFall Back Downö gathering dust in the vault somewhere û who knows?), the dubious hits that the band used to pad their stats on their ôGreatest Hitsö collection (ôWhatever I Fear,ö ôI Will Not Take These Things for Granted,ö and ôCrazy Lifeö), and the one from ôFriendsö (ôGood Intentionsö). ôNew Constellation,ö the first new Toad album since 1997, does not have any songs on par with those classics. But itÆs not a bad album (in fact, itÆs much better after a second listen). Funded by a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $250,000, the new album is, understandably, sparsely produced. ThatÆs not necessarily a bad thing. After all, Toad (as well as frontman Glen Phillips in his solo career) seem to prefer the minimalist approach without the bells and whistles that sometimes accompany a slick studio product. In fact, when the band first reunited, the first thing they did was re-record their greatest hits (some would say they produced inferior covers of their back catalog)- a move that was more about royalties than getting reacquainted with one another. In this case, the lack of production doesnÆt hurt the album. Things get off to a great start with the title track, which is catchy and fun. The second track, ôCalifornia Wasted,ö is the best song on the album and would have been a better choice for lead single than the title track. ôThe Moment,ö ôGet What You Want,ö and ôIÆll Bet On Youö are fine additions to their catalog and will, no doubt, be crowd-pleasers at concerts. Not all of songs are good. The last three songs (ôLife is Beautiful,ö ôThe Eye,ö and ôEnoughö) are flat and boring. In particular ôThe Eye,ö which contains the line ôThis love is a hurricane/ You are the eye,ö is about as subtle as a sledgehammer. You wonder if the band looked up a bunch of different metaphors and decided that ôThis love is an apple/ You are the coreö or ôThis love is a circle/ You are the radius,ö were somehow worse than what they ultimately recorded. WhatÆs really striking about this album is the subject matter. While Toad has never been known as an ôedgyö band, they were quite adept at writing songs about subjects like rape, drug addiction, or kids spying on a whorehouse only things go badly after one of them breaks his leg, all the while making them sound like happy pop songs. Instead, ôNew Constellationö is more about happiness, contentment, and how glad they are to be back together after ten years (give-or-take) apart. Take ôGolden Age,ö a song that opens with the self-aware line ôA decade in the wilderness/ How did we ever come to this?ö In ôCalifornia Wasted,ö Phillips asks ôWhere did the time go?ö The band does tackle topics such as heartbreak, breaking up, and moving forward û an interesting irony considering theyÆre back together. However, rather than focus on the depressing side of those topics, the band opts for the uplifting side. On ôThe Moment,ö Phillips sings: ôThere is nothing but the moment/ DonÆt you waste it on regret.ö On ôIÆll Bet On You,ö itÆs: ôWeÆve all been hurt/ ItÆs nothing new/ Just bet on me/ æCause IÆll bet on you.ö And, of course, on ôLife is Beautiful,ö guitarist Todd Nichols puts his voice to perhaps the most straightforward song the band has ever done. ôLife is beautiful, beautiful/ DonÆt you ever surrender to the voices in your head.ö ItÆs understandable that the band members would mature and take a page out of band name inspiration Eric IdleÆs playbook and start looking at the bright side of life û albeit unironically. Phillips said as much, telling Smashing Interviews Magazine that ôthere were some æcomplainingÆ songs in the pastö and that he ôdid want the record to be more positive.ö The band certainly succeeded in that respect. Ultimately, ôNew Constellationö is a fine album and a nice excuse for the band to hit the road. It certainly wonÆt be as painful sitting through the new songs just to hear the old ones (or ôpaying the taxö as I call it) as with some other bands that were popular in the 1990s.