Customer Reviews

World of Noise

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

World of Noise is a great CD.... I especially like the tracks Sparkle, Invisible, Your Genius Hands, and Sick and Tired. This CD is very intense and extremely different from So Much For The Afterglow and even Sparkle and Fade. Art lets out a lot of emotion due to his screwed up life, and Scott Cuthburt has some good but seldomly used backup vocals. On some tracks, the fact that it was made for $400 is evident.... Sparkle's beginning is somewhat irritatingly "squeaky" and the track Pennyslvana is...(great song) has a minor distortion problem with Art's awesome voice. Overall, this CD is probably not for anyone who doesnt have and like Sparkle and Fade. But for all those big everclear fans its a must have.

Most people who like everclear either got hooked with their sophmore album "sparkle and fade" or the next one "So much for the afterglow." Sparkle is a punk rockin' album with some really deep lyrics. Afterglow is a bit more "adult contemporary", a bit more mainstream.
For fans of Sparkle, "World of Noise" is an essential look back at Everclear's punk rock roots. The album is less polished than Sparkle. Everclear keeps it simple: guitar, bass, drums, vocals. No synthesizers, no string quartets, no piano, no ukulele (thank god!)
The best two songs on the album demonstrate the range Everclear is capable of with just guitar,bass, and drums. First, "fire maple song" is a poignant acoustic/electric song that starts slow and drives home hard. "nervous and weird" is a fast-paced rock that follows the KISS principle (keep it simple stupid!), snap the drum sticks, enter guitar, enter some vocals, play a few verses, go to guitar solo, finish screaming. Nothing fancy, just good rockin'!

First off, people who liked songs like everything to everyone or I will buy you a new life might not like this one. Secondly, i dunno what was up with that review about father of mine or whatever being the only good song on this CD. First of all, fatherf mine isn't on this CD, and every song on it (except for malevolent in my opinion) is thousands of times better than father of mine! this is the best they ever did. The best song on this CD is Your Genius hands follored closely by the laughing world, sparkle, nervous and wierd, and trust fund (a song originally by lead singer Art Alexakis's previous band/solo project called colorfinger), although none of these sound samples demonstrate how great they are. This CD is filled with loads of feedback, yelling, and heavily distorted guitars, and us vs. them lyrics. The amazing thing is that this CD was recorded for under $400, it sounds much better than that. This is also the CD for people hwo liked his previous band colorfinger, because it is similar (but heavier.) I only wish they put colorfinger's kill jerry garcia on it...

This is the second best Everclear album and my absolute favorite. This is there grungiest album and has amazing lyrics, just read them in the booklet. Every song is amazing and the album is set up geniusly. It may not be the best recording production, but that raw, staticky soundis awesome. Some people will tell you to buy their best album, Sparkle And Fade, first, but I highly recommend you get this one first. This is the most anti-sell-out album I've ever heard, and it's coming from a band that sold out big time later. If you get this first, it will make Sparkle And Fade sound a lot better, even if it's great already. Here is a song-by-song analysis in my opinion:

Your Genius Hands: A great first track. It starts off the album with a bit of distortion and then an awesome guitar line. "I have seen you shake, I know what it cost you, I have heard your work, I am big on your noise..." I never got a grip on exactly what this is about, but it might be about a guitarist he admires, "I long to shake your genius hands." *highlight*

Sick And Tired: This is a deep, distorted song about possibly suicide... and the end is really cool.

The Laughing World: This song is grinding and wicked. The riff sounds like something going forward then suddenly pulling back. Another confusing song lyrically ("like a burning car in the sun, we flame for all in plain view"), but still a mild headbanger that rocks (if your the sorta person who does that to punk music). *highlight*

Fire Maple Song: This is the only song on the greatest hits album, and it's about Art's brother dying, and Alexakis sings about this true experience with passionate lyrics. It's soft and beautiful, but has Art almost screaming "I...can't...smile!" during the chorus. The first part of the song is about memories of the brothers spending time together under a maple tree as kids, with lyrics like "listen to grandma sing those country songs, she said the maple turns to fire every four years, we'd lay under the tree and watch the autumn come around," while near the end you hear "Now we're so far away, call eachother once a year, just around the holidays...I can't believe this letter that says you died, I think I'll go back to the house in North Carolina and lay in the backyard, get drunk and let the leaves just bury me..." A great song. *highlight*

Pennsylvania Is...: This song is about the evils of the anti-abortion laws. All states except New York used to have these laws, and this song is specifically about...you guessed it...Pennsylvania. And if you're wondering where there's ... at the end of the, the word missing is "wrong!", which is yelled at the end of the song. It's one of the most meaningful songs on the album. *highlight*

Nervous And Weird: A loud song about a deteriorating relationship. Alexakis uses this theme commonly in many future songs, but this song belongs on this album due to it's unique sound. Nevertheless another great song.

Malevolent: Another meaningful song, about a guy who hits his girlfriend when she tries to break up with him.

Sparkle: This song is amazing. It's one of those songs where it's hard to tell who it's talking about...some claim it's about Kurt Cobain, which is cool, but I have another theory. First of all, the song is clearly about a sell-out musician that Art is displaying his dissapointment with. The person is described as bleached blonde hair and plaid clothes, etc, obviously talking about a blonde grunge junkie. It could be about Kurt becoming something that Art didn't like, but what did Art do later? Doesn't he now have bleach blonde hair? Did he not sell out? I think this song could be about Art talking to his future self, talking about his fear that he will become this sort of person. As a friend said to me about this, sometimes our biggest fears come true. Anyway, just a theory. This song starts off with what I think of as a shaky chord. This also happens later in the song, except it's cooler because Art yells this time. *highlight*

Trust Fund: A very distorted song. I believe this was a Colorfinger song. Anyway, pure grunge.

Loser Makes Good: ANOTHER very meaningful song, about a homeless man criticizing, complaining, but ultimately, as in the title, making good with his words. *highlight*

Invisible: My favorite song on the whole album, about having AIDS. There isn't one line of lyrics in the song that isn't absolutely stunning: "I just can't believe that AIDS is just some act of god...no one will reach for me, no one will touch my skin...I will accept my pain, I don't deserve to die like this, no one deserves to die like this...sometimes I get so mad, I just want to break the world...I will not be denied, I will not be ignored, I'm real I won't go away, I am not invisible anymore..." *highlight*

Evergleam: Probably my favorite last track on all their albums, this is a happy, upbeat summary to a very emotional album. It always puts me in a good mood. So concludes a grunge masterpiece by my favorite band. *highlight*

Buy this album! :-)

Everclear's debut album is wonderful work, but not great like Sparkle and Fade. It's the beginning of alternative music's best band. "Pennsylvania is..." is by far the hallmark track of this CD. "Sparkle" is another wonderful track. But if you're an Everclear fan, this entire CD is great. One that shouldn't be out of any Everclear fan's CD set.

I usually do a song by song review, but for this album im just gonna state the greatest songs, and why they are great
1. Laughing World - you can hear early everclear pop in this song, its deceptively catchy.\
2. Fire Maple Song - one of the greatest of everclear's songs. about the death of his brother george (art alexakis (lead singer) was 12 when his brother (who was 21) od'd, leading him to his own serious drug addiction which he eventually quit in his early 20s) the greatest line in this song send chills as art screams it out "i wanna go back to the house in north carolina and lay in the backyard, get drunk drunk and let the leaves just bury me"

there are lots more great songs, and in retrospect this brilliant album deserves a better review for its raw, punk/grunge sound, but what more do you need? just buy it!!

I am a Portland Oregon Native and have been a fan of Everclear from the early days when they played the club scene. This is IMHO their best record. Raw and fresh it has a harder edge to it then the more recent stuff, and is closer in style to Sparkle and Fade. This record is very emotional, in an 'in your face' way. Art is truly a gifted song writer. This record is beautiful and I count it as one of my most favorite. If you prefer the harder sound of Everclear you will be most pleased. As with much of Art's subject matter the themes of the songs are very honest, and personal, sometimes brutally so, but they are themes which many can relate to which is what makes listening to this such a personal experience.

I'm not going to lie to you, the first couple times I listened to this CD I was not very impressed. It seemed like a so-so effort to say the least. But since I had so much respect for Everclear I kept listening and I can't really explain it but one night I put it in and I don't know how or why, but all the sudden the whole album just made sense. On that eventful listen every song from Your Genious Hands through Evergleam just clicked and I was sitting there singing along (I don't know how) to every single song and when it ended I knew this was going to be one of my favorite CD's ever. Bottom line: If you don't like it at first, stick with it, when the mood gets just right it will click for you like it did for me. I must also say that it is very much more of a rock sound than SMFTA and I'd have to say I prefer it (which makes me wet with anticipation for Good Time For A Bad Attitude this fall which Art said is going to be rocking hard).

When I got the CD,I knew that it was going to be good. I had the other Everclear Albums and all I hoped for was that this album was going to live up to its creators namesake. It does. If you are an everclear fan you must get this! If you are a new listener to everclear the I suggest you get Sparkle and Fade and SMFTAG first then get this CD.

I purchased this Everclear cd after purchasing So Much for the Afterglow and Sparkle and Fade, so my first thoughts were that it was grungy and unartistic. However, after listening to it several times, i realized that it wasn't written for the listener to neccessarily enjoy, but for Everclear frontman Art Alexakis to vent his anger over how the last thirty years of his life were messed up. A good example of Alexakis' work from this cd is the track "Pennsylvania Is...", which is a song about abortion and how it was enforced by a very pro-life governor in Pennsylvania. All in all, this cd may not seem to pleasing at first, but listen to the lyrics. Let it grow on you.