Customer Reviews

Girlfriend - Legacy Edition

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Matthew Sweet's 1991 power pop masterpiece just got better with this two-disc 15th anniverasry reissue. In addition to three bonus tracks taken from the Japanese edition of GIRLFRIEND ("Good Friend," "Superdeformed" and "Teenage Female"), there is a second disc entitled GOODFRIEND, that was initially made available only to a handful of retail, radio and record label insiders. This collection of home demos and live tracks is now available commercially for the first time. This bonus disc alone is worth the purchase price.

GOODFRIEND features nine of the fifteen tracks on the original release, including two live renditions of "Girlfriend," one from a BBC 1 broadcast and the other from a Cleveland show. Also included are two covers: a live version of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer" and a demo version of John Lennon's "Isolation." The real revelations are the acoustic demos. On these tracks the songs are stripped to their essence. "Divine Intervention" becomes a beautifully melodic song of hope and uncertainty. Without Greg Liesz's pedal steel, Winona" loses its country feel but not its poignancy. And "Looking at the Sun" has a haunting beauty in this stark arrangement. [All the live tracks and demos were recorded after the release of GIRLFRIEND between March and September of 1992.]

I first purchased GIRLFRIEND on cassette when it was released in 1991, and then again a few years later to upgrade to CD. But this Deluxe Edition justifies purchasing it again. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I was 20 and going to school in Athens, Ga when this album hit and let me tell you, it had a profound influence on my life. The music absolutely rocks and the lyrics cut right to what me and a lot of people around me we're feeling at the time: insecurity about love, life and the "real world" that was looming ahead at the end of our (4,5...6) years of college. Yes, this is college rock epitomized but with an emphasis on ROCK. Sweet is an incredibly gifted songwriter and musician and (although I didn't understand it at the time) had absorbed the Beach Boys, Beatles, Byrds, and Big Star and was on a mission to share those influences with Generation Xers interested in listening to something other than the heavy slog of Seattle grunge.

I didn't get a chance to see Sweet live until 2000 at the Roxy in Atlanta and I honestly have to say it was the best rock and roll show I've ever seen: raw, immediate, viceral (3 guitars!!!).

If you don't own it, buy it (either the Deluxe addition or just the old cheapie) don't download it either--this one's about DYNAMICS, not lame-o compressed MP3 sound. Definitely one of the best albums of the 90's and that's saying tons.

Bought this as soon as i found out it existed. Newly remasted, with great liner notes. The second disk is a cool bunch of extras with some live tracks and some alternate versions. Very nice two disk package.

The original version of this album is great. Remastered and with the additional tracks, this moves into super-greatness. From the opening track, to the very end it doesn't disappoint. Buy this now.

The only Matthew Sweet album worthy of recognition & here's why; guitars, guitars, guitars. Sure, Matthew Sweet loves the Beatles and his melodies and harmonies prove it, but his later albums seem to suffer from not having Robert Quine or Richard Lloyd on lead guitar--or even Lloyd Cole on rhythm guitar. Not many punk popsters can pull off so much guitar wanking with interest; especially the late Robert Quine who is given plenty of room to speak. When this first came out I thought it was overhyped and not nearly equal to Television's Marquee Moon, or Richard Hell's Blank Generation; all influences Sweet has mentioned. However, 15 years later the album stands the test of time; no Beatles "Revolver" or Big Star's "#1 Record", but the melodies/harmonies work. Guitar workouts worth your attention: "Divine Intervention", "Does She Talk", "Girlfriend", "Evangeline". Pop classic tunes worth saving: "I wanted to tell you".
The extra disc is worth the money only for the demo version of "Divine Intervention." You can hear how Sweet was banking every ounce he ever had in the lyric and guitar playing. Spiritually yearning, his guitar solo at a minute thirty stretches as far as his questioning does God.

The original release of Sweet's third album in 1991 laid down a power-pop gauntlet for the decade. His collection of fifteen songs (augmented here to 18 with the addition of tracks featured on various import issues) perfectly balanced his talents and influences in a way its predecessors and successors never managed. Gone were the '80s production excesses of his debut, in was the electric inferno of Robert Quine and Richard Lloyd's guitars. Gone were the fanboy sci-fi lyrics of the preceding "Earth" LP, in were words of love, betrayal and seething anger.

Sweet's singing is nearly spiritual in its sublime expressions of joy and heartbreak. It's the sort of palpable, heart-on-sleeve emotion that marks the best power pop, from The Beatles through Big Star, Dwight Twilley, Teenage Fanclub and others. Sweet's follow-up albums would give in to rock guitar excess, losing the focus and compactness that's allowed "Girlfriend" to retain its original power fifteen years on. Sweet, Lloyd and Velvet Crush drummer Ric Menck open the album with a crushing blow of rhythmic pop, highlighted by Lloyd's dazzling solo atop Sweet's riffing electric guitar and pounding bass. Sweet sings as a lost man, praying for a sign to point the way; the album then rewinds to reveal how he came to this desolate place.

"I've Been Waiting" captures the euphoric first flush of love with a chiming mix of electric and acoustic guitars. The noose is set in "Girlfriend" when Sweet realizes his needs, accompanied by Quine's muscular guitar and Sweet's multi-tracked harmonies. Love's brilliance is blinding in "Looking at the Sun" and belies an underlying fracture that grows into jealousy and neediness with the busy phone line of "Winona" (underlined by Greg Leisz heartbreaking pedal steel). The comic-book fantasy of "Evangeline" diverts the singer's attention only momentarily before the hammer falls. And when it falls, it falls hard. Very, very hard.

The dragging tempo and Lennon-like splats of rhythm guitar spell the beginning of the end on "Day for Night." The bitter "Thought I Knew You" provides Sweet the vehicle to release years of pent-up resentment, seething with the question "how can I describe the way you slowly put my hope away?" Leisz's pedal steel returns for the morning-after hangover wallow, "You Don't Love Me," which stings deeply with the self-medicating line, "you can't see how I matter in this world." The hurt persists in "I Wanted to Tell You," but the upbeat tempo and strident vocal find the anger seemingly dissipated. Robert Quine adds another terrific solo and the mix of acoustic guitar and overdubbed harmony vocals provide a hint of sunshine through the clouds.

Sweet's need to analyze what went wrong continues in "Don't Go," suggesting he hasn't fully moved on, and trying his ex-lover's patience. The lullaby "Your Sweet Voice" finds the singer finally at rest, but with "Does She Talk?" he's back on the prowl, possibly warning someone involved with his ex ("Gonna need you a key to open the door to her heart / Or are you afraid her body is missing that part?"). The original album closes on a somber, existential note, wondering whether there is anyone to actually hear the plea that opened the song cycle and smoothly segueing back to track 1.

Volcano's fifteenth anniversary 2-CD reissue of this title fleshes out the original in two dimensions. Disc one is augmented with a trio of songs ("Good Friend," "Superdeformed" and "Teenage Female") that had been attached to various import album and CD single issues. All are good, but almost superfluous given the strength of the original album. The real treat is disc two, which reissues the contemporaneous promo-only "Good Friend" CD. The thirteen tracks include acoustic demos, live versions and a pair of covers (Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer," with the Indigo Girls, and John Lennon's "Isoloation").

The demo of "Divine Intervention," stripped of the searing electric guitars of the album turns the song into a Richie Havens-styled plea, highlighted by the acoustic lead playing of Ivan Julian. The live acoustic rendition of "Thought I Knew You" is sung with a fresh sense-memory of the song's origin, and "You Don't Love Me" and "Winona," both shorn of Greg Leisz pedal steel, are more emotionally spent and less country than the album takes. The bonus disc's highlight is an early recording of "Someone to Pull the Trigger" with an end-of-the-rope vocal and ragged production that bests the finished version on Sweet's later "Altered Beast" CD.

The original album's production is flawless and clear, balancing Sweet's vocals perfectly against the onslaught of drums, bass and guitar. The bonus disc sounds like the variety of sources from which it was constructed, with tightly recorded acoustic demos back-to-back with live outings. Disc two serves as a commentary on the original artifact, exposing some roots and offering interpretations. For those who've memorized every nuance of the original LP, "Good Friend" shines a new light on a beloved friend.

In both its original single-CD issue or this expanded reissue, this is an essential for any fan of melodic rock and power-pop. It's a tour de force that Sweet never repeated at album length. [©2007 hyperbolium dot com]

I just LOVE this cd! Basically, the songs are about love lost, love found, and love is hard-pretty universal topics for a pop album. What makes this one stand out is the music-if you love the Beatles as much as James Taylor, or The Kinks as much as Paul Simon, this is a cd for you. There's lots of loud guitars, including pedal steel on a few of the songs, and Matthew has a very good voice for singing pop songs. Then you get to the bonus disc called "Good Friend" which has live and demo versions of the same songs, along with a few choice covers. The whole thing has been remastered and the sound is crystal clear. I know the original came out in 1991, and I somehow missed it all these years--the first time I heard it I thought it sounded a little like Pernice Brothers on steriods, which is a good thing. Bottom line, if you like melodic pop music and high octane guitar rock, this is for you. Highly Recommended!

Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend" is not simply one of the best albums of the 1990s, it is a bona fide 'desert island disc,' meaning you can return to it again and again and again without any depreciable loss in the experience. Indeed, track for track, the album may even grow over time.
In any event, if you dig power pop, then you have to own it, Girlfriend. This is the second coming of ERIC CARMEN, and trust me, there may not be a third in our lifetime.

Loudness War won this one. Since the reviews were so good I decided to pick it up and now I'm really upset because its clipped. I checked it against my orginal and sure enough they screwed it up, I couldn't believe it. IDIOTS. FWIW.

Since it's release in 1991, this has been one of my absolute, favorite cd's. The title track alone is one of the great rock and roll songs of all times, but really, there isn't a weak track anywhere. And with the addition of the "Good Friends" cd, it becomes essential.

But why should you buy it? Glad you asked. The guitar work from Richard Lloyd and Robert Quine is outstanding by any standard. The sound is so nice and clean that you can pick out 5 or 6 guitar lines on almost every song. The vocals are top notch, and just the tight playing of all the musicians is amazing. The songs themselves are so good that even when they're stripped down, as they are on the "Goodfriends" tracks, they all still stand up. It really is an amazing work, and a true must buy. Sweet's albums since this one have been a bit uneven, with a few solid tracks and filler. But this one is one of the few cd's that I'll play from beginning to end, including all the bonus tracks, which I had hunted down on my own over the years.

Buy it, you'll like it.