Customer Reviews

Inside

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

 

 

Well, after listening to his later work first, I picked up this album and found it to be a disappointment. This is bland synth-pop, with pleasant, sugary melodies sung in a high, airy style, but absolutely forgettable in every respect. It goes in one ear and out the other and leaves no lasting impression.

Worse, most of the songs sound almost exactly the same. I almost thought the first three songs were all parts of the same song. Throbbing synthesizer eighth-notes on the bottom, innocuous melodies on the top. Yep, it sounds like a lot of the synth-junk that was being put out in the mid-'80s. Oh well, he improved. A LOT.

A mediocre effort from guitar god Matthew Sweet. I bought this album after his latter works (the spectacular "Girlfriend" and "100% Fun"), expecting more of the same, but getting very fluffy pop. It's not bad; it's just not the Matthew Sweet I'd come to know and love. "This Above All" is actually a very pretty song, something that one doesn't normally equate with Sweet. I would recommend this album for completists only.

"Inside", Matthew Sweet's first effort shows how 80s pop should have been done. Full of the trademark melodies he would later be praised for, Inside takes a more synth approach and comes up with the happiest, catchiest pop music you will ever hear.

I wouldn't have gone out and bought the rest of his catalogue. Actually, I had "Girlfriend" and "100% Fun," but these didn't inspire me enought to buy his other stuff. "Inside," on the other hand, is great stuff. He sounds totally in control, no squealing git-tars to maul the songs. And what songs they are, "Quiet Her," Blue Fools," "We lose Another Day," and "Catch Your Breath" might be the best four-song run of his career. Shame it didn't last, buy this puppy 'fore it goes outta print; ).

This sounds like a bad Duran Duran cover band (except for Blue Fools). I can't believe this is Matthew Sweet! It's worth listening to to see how far he's come.

I thought I'd bought every Matthew Sweet CD until this early gem (1986!) turned up at a local CD store. It's a refreshing departure from Matthew's somewhat dark, somber, later works. It's full of song after song of upbeat, melodic, catchy pop-rock reminiscent of the best 70s & 80s keyboard groups (the Baby's during their keyboard days, Todd Rundgren's Utopia, The Outfield). Sweet's slightly shaky vocals lend a garage-band sincerity to the tunes despite the slick production. These songs are so good I'm amazed that I never heard any of them on the radio. Perhaps the best CD I've bought during the past year.