Customer Reviews

Before the Eulogy [reissues, odds and ends, rarities]

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uhm... how about "This Screaming, This Crying..."? How about actually having 'Rocket Man' on the album, not just on the track listing? I only got this for one of the demos. Pretty good, but, yeah, it just makes you wish this band was as good now as they were then.

Just got a chance to listen to some of this album and I must say it sounds wonderful. For years I've been dying for remastered versions of some of my favorite songs by BSF and this album does a great job with that. Only got to listen to a couple of tracks, but Vehicle (my favorite BSF song) sounds so much better, it's unbelievable. Most of the other songs sound great too, but I just couldn't stop listening to Vehicle.

Definately going to pick this up in the very near future, and if you're even remotely in to old stuff by Boy Sets Fire, I suggest you do the same. Only disappointment that I saw is that the song Swingset isn't on this album, which kind of hurts, but the original version doesn't sound as muddy as some of the other unmastered songs. Overall great songs and such a difference in clarity.

Any band which has been round for any length of time eventually ends up with a few loose ends, b-sides, and other miscellaneous songs which are hard for fans to find. `Before The Eulogy' lays out Boysetsfire's career chronologically, from the very first demo recorded in a basement to later, more professional songs recorded for compilations.

Collections of this type are unavoidably uneven. This collection is no exception. It is a collection of Boysetsfire's demos, EPs and other rarities from the first decade of their existence. Calling something a rarity and then sticking it on a CD is a bit dumb. Sure, it used to be rare, but it isn't any more, because it's just been released on a mass produced CD. It's a good marketing tool though. Minor quibble aside, this collection shows the evolution of the band as clearly as counting the rings on a tree shows its age.

Screamo bands are a dime a dozen now, but when Boysetsfire recorded their first demo, a lot of people didn't get it, for the simple fact there was singing and screaming in the same song. It sounds like a high school band just starting out, which probably wasn't far from the reality of the situation. However, there's something special there, a certain energy and conviction which can make up for a lot of musical shortcomings.

From there, the band blossoms and grows, and the initial ideas develop, combining Hardcore with subtlety and, dare I say it, emotion. Sure, the Hardcore element here is more Minor Threat than Madball, but these young fellas can rock out when required. As the album progresses, the hard edges and sharp corners are knocked off the music, becoming more rounded, but also unfortunately, less interesting.

Often with releases like this, a nasty exploitative record label releases it without telling the band, but the liner notes here tell of how and why things were recorded, of releasing the first demo at a hijacked Fugazi show, and recording a song for a compilation just because Refused were going to be on the same album. The cover of the Dead Kennedys' "Holiday In Cambodia" is strangely compelling. No one in Punk has ever really matched Jello Biafra's almost operatic warble, so sensibly, these guys don't even try. Mr Biafra himself liked this version enough to sign a copy for the band.

There aren't a lot of outstanding, hit-you-between-the-eyes-and-convert-you-to-Emo songs here, but that would be asking too much of a collection of this type. Fans of the band will love it anyway, and that's really who this is for.