The Normal Years [Original recording reissued]

Built To Spill | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 23, 1996)
• Original Release Date: April 30, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: K. Records
• ASIN: B000003ROA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #127,928 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of "the normal years" by Built to Spill, November 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Normal Years (Audio CD)

I think its a great album. If you like earlier Pavement and Modest Mouse and Sebadoh and the like (melodic indie guitar rock) then i think you'll love it..... Terrible/Perfect, joyride,some things last a long time and whatever ****.... are incredible songs..

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The good, the bad, and the bad., August 24, 2002

By 

"fluxequalsrad" (where in the world am I?) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Normal Years (Audio CD)

Even for the outtake collection of one of the greatest bands ever, the quality of a few of these tracks is really surprising: easily matching the best song on TNWWL, Stab -- but for the outtake collection of one of the greatest bands ever, there's an astounding quantity of throwaways.

Let's focus on the positive first. So & So, Terrible/Perfect, and Some Things all rank with Stab as the best stuff that Doug Martsh had recorded up until that time. It's a wonder that they did not in fact end up on There's Nothing Wrong, though to be sure they would have stolen a bit from the quaint personality of that album: and So & So in particular, with it's plaintive mood and bouncy but precise guitar-work, might have stood a chance on Alternative radio. As it is, these songs are surprising gems that, along with other solid tracks like Sick and Wrong and Joyride, elevate this collection far above a simple piece of interest for completists.

But it is pointless to rate this album just as an outtake collection. So let's talk about the bad. There are two duds (Shortcut and Girl), two inferior duplicates of TNWWL tracks, and Still Flat, which gets on my nerves because it starts great but by the end is a complete bore. On paper, these five flawed tracks might not seem so terrible, but they have a way of getting together and really dominating the mood of the album. There is, in the end, little point to listening to Normal Years all the way through.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For completists, April 29, 2004

By 

Scott Fendley (Zionsville, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Normal Years (Audio CD)

This is OK. It has some good stuff, some interesting stuff, and stuff that should have been left on the cutting room floor. I'd say only BTS die-hards should buy it. It's not bad, but it's not top-quality.