Customer Reviews

In Reverse

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Judging by its pathetic debut near the bottom of the Billboard 200, _In Reverse_ obviously does not seem high on the record label's priority list. (Sweet has two gold records, you know!) I bemoan this more than usual because _In Reverse_ may be Sweet's finest hour. _Blue Sky on Mars_ was largely a smudgy and meandersome mess with a couple of minor gems; this record bears very little in common with it. "If Time Permits" and "Thunderstorm" are the two best examples of the Spectorian production techniques that you've read about. I would go so far as to say that this one even trumps _Girlfriend_, long held up as Sweet's unassailable masterpiece. Among Sweet's albums, only this one and _100% Fun_ avoid the occasional spottiness that seems inherent in a style that aims for pop bliss in three-minute packages. Oh, and "Faith In You" rocks.

Don't let the lack of radio and MTV play dissuade you- _In Reverse_ is phenomenal.

With albums like "100% Fun" and "Altered Beast", Matthew Sweet has flirted with greatness for years. With "In Reverse" he finally gets there. This is Sweet at the top of his game: exquisite melodies, perceptive lyrics, artful guitar work, and brilliant production. Many reviewers have made comparisons to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound and The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album, but the album this most reminds me of is Side Two of The Beatles' Abbey Road. Many of the songs run together, and the transistions are so invisible that you just fall into the next song and become enveloped by the melody. There's a little bit of everything on this album from scorching rockers like "Split Personality" and "Write Your Own Song" to the sad, wistful ballad "Untitled." The album ends with its masterpiece, the nearly ten minute long "Thunderstorm", a virtual pop symphony consisting of four different songs. While "In Reverse" does not feature one single great track like "Time Capsule" or "Sick of Myself", the album is more than the sum of its parts. It's a true album, best listened to from start to finish, as each song complements the next one musically and emotionally. I can't express how much I love this album. It's been a needed friend to me during a a very sad time in my life. If I'm every sent to that mythical desert island, "In Reverse" is coming with me.

I am still amazed that Matthew Sweet isn't a household name. This album is his best (and yes I love both Girlfriend and 100% Fun). There are at least 8 songs on this album that could be smash hits if radio had some taste and got off the boy band/rap merry go round. The Phil Spectre like tracks are amazing with headphones and the final track Thunderstorm is Sweet's Abbey Road medley.

Matthew Sweet has outdone even himself this time. "In Reverse" is, quite frankly, one of THE best albums ever made, period. Listeners are in for one hell of a treat. "In Reverse" may look back to another era for some of it's inspiration, but it has a sound all it's own. A rich, vibrant one. In fact, some of the songs, such as "If Time Permits" and "What Matters" are absolutely drenched in that wonderful sound. Looking at "In Reverse," one can see all of the feeling and sounds from Matthew's earlier albums converge into what is his masterpiece. The rocker "Split Personality," will remind those familiar with his earlier works of the "Girlfriend" and "Altered Beast." "Faith in You," reminds me of both those albums and "100% Fun," a bit, but at the same time it's a new sound for Matthew. Hide is a slow, sad, and beautiful piano song that makes me thing of some of the songs on "100% Fun." Songs like "Millennium Blues," "If Time Permits," "What Matters," "I Shoulder Never Have Let You Know," and "Thunderstorm" are the ones I consider to be the most innovative. Matthew also uses Phil Specter's famous "Wall of Sound" technique on some of the songs. Choosing best tracks is too difficult for me, because they are all so incredible, except for "Beware My Love," which is not favorite of mine, but as with all of Matthew's Songs, is still great. "Thunderstorm," which is actually four songs cleverly woven into one, is the most outstanding though. I can't do it justice --- you simply have to hear it for yourself. This is a great album for any listener who appreciates truly high-quality music, whether they are new to Matthew Sweet or are long-time fans. "In Reverse" gives us the kind of songs the music world needs more of, especially in this day and age.

The first I'd heard of Matthew Sweet was Dark Secret, a song he'd written for the soundtrack to teen movie The Craft. From there on I was highly interested in seeing what else this obviously talented singer songwriter had done. From there I heard Girlfriend and eventually wound up buying In Reverse. Due to listening to little of Sweet's earlier material I can't really compare, but judging by his latest effort I would definitely be interested in his back catelogue.

In Reverse plays like a concept album most of the time, something that is evident straight away from the album's design with an inlay that literally is written in reverse. And that's essentially what the album is, a trip back through trippy power chamber pop. What's most admirable though is that despite this concept the album comes across as amazingly personal, with The Beatles and Phil Spector influences being twisted noticeably to suit Sweet's style and lyrics. There are several stand-out songs, and for an album of 14 tracks there's no moment where it flags or the ideas get old. Despite the concept of the album it never plays as the same throughout, with subtle differences between each song. The best song is probably the gorgeous, hummable Hide, a song of hiding yourself from reality even though you know that eventually it will break through. Indeed, this song seems to be symptomatic of the majority of Sweet's lyrics. Knowledge of disappointment and an inability to trust in others as well as yourself and the painful paradow of this equation runs throughout, in particular on Beware My Love, a deliberately ambiguous tune. Other standouts include the angry, but still remarkably tuneful, Write Your Own Song, which was probably written in answer to the negative reviews that Sweet's last album Blue Sky On Mars received. The crowning achievement though, and an excellent finisher, is the 9 minutes plus Thunderstorm, which is really quite stunning and something that many modern musicians wouldn't dare even attempting.

It's a shame that Sweet isn't more popular than he is, although his cult figure status among those who have heard of him, is probably better really. And In Reverse perfectly showcases why anyone would like Matthew Sweet. He's original and interesting whilst not being afraid to borrow from other artists preceding him and making the styles meaningful and new in a modern context. This is jangly pop at its very best and to say that an artist with an already well-established career and a long back catelogue his later material is amazingly accessible to new fans. This surely gives him a standing to become a real cult figure of the 00's, as well as his reputation for the Girlfriend album.

I was all set to dismiss this, Sweet's latest attempt to equal the (in my opinion, of course) magnificent Girlfriend, as yet another disappointment, but under repeated listenings, In Reverse has actually grown on me to the point where I think it is by far his best since his landmark 1991 CD. Altered Beast, 100% Fun, and Blue Sky on Mars all, to me, sank under the weight of the unimaginative reliance on fuzz guitar, bass & drum accompaniment, and a lot of worthy songs got buried in the process...with In Reverse, Sweet actually takes a large step forward, channeling the Beach Boys on several cuts, most notably If Time Permits and I Should Never Have Let You Know, and embelleshes many other tracks with clever arrangments. By oing with a little more pop and a little less power, Matthew Sweet has come up with a winner this time.

Having followed Matthew Sweet's career for the last nine years, this record came almost as a vindication. Matthew Sweet is edging into Roy Wood territory here, combining atmospherics common to Brian Wilson and Phil Spector, a sense of songcraft equal to that of the Beatles, and his own edgy power pop into one seamless whole, culminating in the epic "Thunderstorm." Matthew Sweet shouldn't be pigeonholed into the college radio scene any longer. By now, it should be clear that he is actually a major artist in the tradition of Wood and Todd Rundgren. Buy this album!

Matthew Sweet's In Reverse was his last big release of the 90s. Coming a few years after both his short and average "Blue Sky on Mars" CD, you can't help but wish and wonder if the strongest songs from both CDs had been combined into a single release would have done anything for their popularity, overall.

When I first bought the CD, one thing I noticed was how it didn't feel like there was really a single on the CD, but it almost required listening to from start to finish. The CD starts out with three songs that flow into one another as if they were a single long song, while closing out with a one song that is so long and varied that it might have originally been planned to follow the same plan. All in all though, the CD comes off as a lighter sound than his previous albums, but with a wider range of sound.

After relistening to the CD and revisiting the tracks, I get the feeling that this is actually something along the lines of a concept album or an attempt at an alternative rock opera, like Tommy, Lifehouse, Ziggy Stardust or maybe something along the lines of ELO's _Time_.*

But what could this mystery plot be if it indeed a concept album?

While I have no evidence to back this theory, and no one else has ever seemed voice a similar thought, there is very much the sense that these aren't just songs or songs linked in theme, but part of a plot. If you listen to the entire CD with that kind of mindset, it becomes a lot more interesting. *It's also important to note that since chatter has been that MS was a big ELO fan, it adds some credibility to the theory that he was doing his own version of a time-travelling concept album ala ELO's _Time_.

So, what is that plot? One theory I'm toying with is that it might actually be about a would-be songwriter/time traveler who ends up going back in time and attempting to fix his future and the future of a female singer he knew as a youth. (For lack of better names, I'm just referring to them as the Traveler and the Singer.) Many things about the CD, from the CD art, the cover, and even just the title alone seem to have the theme of not only 'time', but obviously going back in time. If you take the concept in conjunction with the story of the Traveler and the Singer, there is a new meaning to the album as a whole.

Tracks 1-3
"Millennium Blues", "If Time Permits", and "Beware My Love"
These three tracks segue into one another, as I said, almost creating a supersingle. I get a somewhat 'above-average' feeling about these three songs, but for some reason they come off a lot better as a single unit.
(Rock opera theory: A character, the time traveler, at a quarter or midlife crisis is doubting their importance in the world, along with the choices and actions they've made in the past. Somehow their actions have had a bad effect on their lives or the lives of others around them.

"MB" is from the perspective of a secondary character, or just establishing an overriding theme of that the Traveler is out of step with the times.
"ITP" is from the perspective of the Traveler. Perhaps less about wanting to change the past, but wanting to relieve the glory days of his relationship with the Singer, but he doesn't want to have to go through the all the challenges of the past, again, to do so.
"BML" could be from the perspective of either the Singer or the Traveler, or maybe both as it does have the slight feeling that it could be a duet. Either the Traveler is living with the regret of their relationship falling apart, or the Singer is consoling (or criticizing) the Traveler.)

4. "Faith In You"
A sort of return to Sweet's early 90s rocker sound.
(ROT: This might not be told from the current perspective of the Traveler, but his recollections of the attitudes of the Singer. A theory I'm holding onto is that the Singer might have been a character who invested much of their faith and romantic trust in the Traveler as a youth (or vice versa), as told from their youthful perspectives before failure set in. In short, he's remembering the good times.)

5. "Hide"
(ROT: This might be the point in the plot that the Traveler has been completely abandoned in the 'present' by the Singer and makes to move back to the past to save their relationship.)

6."Future Shock"
(ROT: Two theories:
1- The Traveler is in the past as his younger self and is (re)introducing himself to the Singer for the first time.
2- The Traveler, more mature but now living as his younger self, starts to realize how directionless and flawed he was as a youth. So, his clouded memories of youth become clearer and more defined, giving him greater reason to change himself and his decisions to affect the future.

7."Split Personality"
(ROT: The character is now in the past, but they're stuck with the guilt, depression and knowledge of the events from the future. This is leading them to try to act how they used to act in the past, but being burdened with the personality and memories of the future. This might signify a change in Traveler as a youth suddenly changing overnight in the eyes of many people (bullies, rivals, classmates, friends, family), a sudden change from what he was originally as a youth from "Future Shock" and the start of a divergent timeline.)

8." I Should Have Never Have Let You Know"
(ROT: The Traveler discovers their new gift of foresight can be used help people, but they're starting to regret it. An alternate theory is that the Traveler is making a choice to change gears in their relationship with the other character in the past, as to allow the pair of them to have a better future.)

9. "Trade Places"
(ROT: The character is at a crossroads, having determined their time travel has the potential to change the future. They don't want to lose the happiness of themselves or the Singer, so they decide to change things for the 'better.')

10. "What Matters"
(ROT: Ok, this is where it gets weird. The character has effected a change in their world, but things aren't working out for them. In fact, I think this song is from the perspective another another character.)

11. "Write Your Own Song"
(ROT: The Traveler's actions in the past has resulted a horrible breakdown in the continuing relationship with the Singer. At this point, I'm willing to say that the story is the Traveler is using knowledge of future hit music to make the other character into a professional and successful singer. However, the Traveler is getting angry that the Singer has either voiced dislike of the music the Traveler is giving them, the his relationship with the Singer has fallen apart (again), or the Singer has discovered that the songs aren't really the Traveler's.)

12. "Worse to Live"
(ROT: Not my favorite song on the CD, so I find it hard to look for a meaning in the narrative for the story of the Traveler and the Singer. There is the obvious meaning from the lyrics, though. My guess is that this segues into a moment where the Traveler discovers he can affect another change in the time by going back again?)

13. "Untitled"
(ROT: This one is hard to put together with a plot for this. It could be that the Traveler is willing to abandon the use of future hits for the Singer in an attempt to use his own abandoned songs that he gave up on. Or the Traveler is planning not to use the future hits or his old abandoned songs, but repair his formerly bad songs written as a youth with techniques and experiences he gained through his life.)

14. "Thunderstorm"
(ROT: This song plays out in several different parts, all with their own sound, to close out the album.
Part 1: The Traveler is ready to accept the 'horrible' real future at some great expense. He plans to make another jump into the past and correct things, again.
Part 2: The Singer and Traveler concile? Or is something else happening?
Part 3: Tone gets a LOT darker. Could the Traveler be planning on doing something more sinister this time around in order to change the future around, again?
Part 4: Tone gets a lot milder. A theory I'm holding onto is that the Traveler sets about a change in the past that prevents he and the Singer from ever meeting. It hints that by never meeting, they actually have much better lives as a result; she not burdened or feeling held back by him, and him not burdened by the guilt of holding her back.
Part 5: Tone gets different, again. The ending is that the Traveler is alone. In short, he's accomplished what he wanted to do from the start. By never meeting the Singer, he never blames or hates himself for being what he feels to be a negative impact on her life.)

As I said, there is no evidence that this is actually supposed to be the narrative, but if you accept the concept album theory, I think it surprisingly works along the lines of a musical Quantum Leap. However, this isn't to say the Traveler/Singer storyline IS the storyline to the album, but just something I've inferred from listening. Another theory is that the Traveler and Singer might just be the same person, the former having gone back in time to guide the past of his younger self. If so, 'Write Your Own Song' then becomes an angry duet between the younger and older versions of the same character, his younger self angry about his own works being disregarded and the older self having no faith in his younger self's skills.

The problem (and benefit) with any theory trying to piece together a plot is that the listener must ultimately decide if this is the unofficial concept of the concept album, and if that the the theme and narrative they want to accept when listening to it.

Strong words,yes,but I absolutely believe it!Beautifully constructed pop masterpieces that will haunt me forever!I love Brian Wilson,Chad and Jeremy,The Turtles,and that kinda music.This album strongly hearkens back to those emotions and aesthetics.I played this constantly when first buying this,and still listen to it often.I love it!

I haven't liked any one CD so immediately since I came across Kyle Vincent's (another musician with a soap actor's name) self-title '97 opus. I've been on Sweet's trail for years, but while I've always felt that he had the tunes, the look and the voice, somehow the representation often fell short of living up to the ingredients' potential. Mainly, the producers he chose to - or were chosen for him - to work with just didn't seem to get it. From Euro-Pap (Cliff Richard, A-Ha, Leo...yikes!...Sayer) 'meistro' Alan Tarney on Sweet's '86 debut to Brendan O'Brien's heavy-handed (Sweet needn't be produced in the same manner as Oasis, who, contrary to popular belief, neither have a material as good as his, nor the pipes to match it) work on the somewhat (here on Amazon) overrated "100% Fun"(1995), the producers, I've felt, have all too often been mismatched with our boy Matthew. Well, "In Reverse" lists no less than four producers, which instantly screams out, "Too many cooks in the kitchen!" - in most such cases, that is. Not so here, though. From the initial cacophony charm of opener "Millenium Blues" to the closing nearly 10 minute Spector-esque Brian Wilson-like epic of "Thunderstorm" (echoes of Wilson's own 1988 "Rio Grande" are audible), this record's an almost uninterrupted delight. Only on the sonically overdone "Split Personality" seems the quality control guard to have been let down, but that's a small price to pay since that song's only crime is to be 'only' average while the rest remains relatively top-notch. The obvious oft-touted Spector/Wilson influence here has been, by others before me, given its due attention for both better and worse, but I also hear a clear nod to Gerry Buckley and America (the group) on the mighty but mellow "Untitled", under which the spirit of Roger McGuinn also lurks mischeviously about. "Beware My Love" is a song that would've/should've been an instant hit - if only this was 1975, not 2000! I can very well imagine McCartney, McGuinn, Wilson, Spector, et al, humm approvingly along with this one, mumbling, "Jolly well done, son." And indeed it is. But will it mark a reversal of Sweet's fortunes - or lack thereof - I ask? Well, it bloody well should! Buy it - it REALLY IS that good.