Blue Sky on Mars [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED]

Matthew Sweet

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 25, 1997)
• Original Release Date: March 25, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Volcano
• ASIN: B0000009B3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,239 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Matthew Sweet's melodic hooks fit so perfectly inside his rhythm grooves that together they acquire an irresistible logic. Sweet's Beatlesque confections avoid sentimentality thanks to the streetwise toughness he gleaned from his connections to such New York punk bands as Television and the Voidoids. If Sweet's melodies evoke an optimistic yearning for love, the words suggest that such connections are hard to come by. Sweet's debt to the Beach Boys is superficially obvious on the hot-rod tempo of "Come to California" and the amusement-park flavor of "Make Believe." Sweet really captures the essence of Brian Wilson's art, though, on songs such as "Behind the Smile," where he admits, "I haven't been a good friend for a long, long time; you know I wasn't happy behind the smile." Countering this confession are swelling, soaring harmonies that suggest that friendship and happiness are still the goals. --Geoffrey Himes

Product Description

Contains Three Bonus Tracks Exclusive to Japan: 'if It's Happening You Will Know It', 'close Inside', 'final Hour'.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing . . . but the highs make it worth owning, August 17, 1999

By A Customer

I agree with the writer below that too many artists currently pad out their CDs with filler simply because the space is there. BUT--it is hard not to feel as though the shrinking running-times of Sweet's records (and their increasingly hit-or-miss songwriting) establish a kind of quantity/quality correspondence. What's next, a techno EP with only one good song? *100% Fun* earns its brevity with sublime writing (it's a bit saggy in the middle, but everything kicks in eventually). With *Blue Sky,* though, it begins to seem as though the bitter weirdness that fueled Sweet's early-90s work has soured into a lack of regard for his audience. Even when he writes a killer hook--"All Over My Head"--he can scarcely be bothered to flesh it out into a song, and the absence of either R. Lloyd or R. Quine in the lead guitar role throws the track into a holding pattern when it should be taking off. In a lesser artist, such modesty wouldn't rankle, but Sweet is clearly more gifted (to say nothing of prolific) than he has recently been allowing. On the whole, this is a real head-in-the-sand effort, worth getting (for fans) for its 3 or 4 great tunes. But one certainly hopes that the bile of indifference will have subsided by the time Sweet next enters the studio.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Sweet enough, March 9, 1999

By A Customer

This record starts out pretty well with "Come To California", the straightforward "Back To You" and the powerhouse "Where You Get Love" with its irresistible roaring outro, but those were the only tracks I could remember when I've heard it through. Still, there are some nifty melodies scattered around. If you look well enough, maybe someday you will find them. And: I think it is a good thing that this album does not last longer than 40 minutes. There are enough of those which drag on far too long...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as strong as his best work, October 18, 1998

By A Customer

This is an enjoyable album, and it has some really good, pure melodic pop on it. But I have a few complaints:

1. The songs just aren't quite as catchy as previous work. I find myself programming my CD player around some of them.

2. Matthew fired his lead and rhythm guitarists, and came out worse for it. Hey Matt, those guys were awesome; how come you got rid of them?

3. The album is too short. It's not even 40 minutes.

Despite these shortcomings, it's still a fun, if somewhat cynical, collection of songs.