Earth

Matthew Sweet

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 21, 1993)
• Original Release Date: 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000002GID
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #177,877 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An improvement over "Inside", January 13, 2000

By	Scott E. Miller (Fort Collins, CO United States) - See all my reviews

Matthew Sweet's second album improves over the first, partly because the '80s were on the way out and there's less processed robo-pop in the backing tracks. Sweet's songwriting has also improved; while even the strongest tracks on the first album were usually buried under mounds of keyboards and drum programming, the clean production and arrangements on "Earth" allow the songcraft to show up front and center. Highlights include the wistful "Easy," a great opening track; "Wind And The Sun," which, despite some slightly corny lyrics, has a lovely, bouncy melody; "Children Of Time (Forever)," a somewhat amusing track in which Sweet projects his love affair into the far future (think "In The Year 2525" meets the Jetsons and Roy Wood all at once); and "Vixen," which, no matter what you think of the lyrics, has an irresistible sing-along chorus; it reminds me of Jonathon Richman's "Road Runner." This album might not take hold of you right away, but given a chance, it's as rewarding as his later, better-known work. If you like "100% Fun" or "Blue Sky On Mars" in particular, you might really like this one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sign Of Things To Come, January 7, 2000

By	Adam J. Vogt (Ft. Collins, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Compared to his first album INSIDE, which had about a dozen producers and dozens of top session musicians, EARTH is a decidedly more orderly affair. One production team handles all the tracks, resulting in a more consistent listen. For the first time, Robert Quine and Richard Lloyd handle most of the lead guitar duties, as they would on Sweet's following 3 (and far more commercially successful) albums. Sweet's songwriting skills aren't quite as impressive here as they would prove to be on later albums, although he is consistant: there's not a bad song on here and the high points ("When I Feel Again", "Vertigo", "Easy") really are high. Oddly enough, there's nothing here as impressive as tracks like "Quiet Her" and "Love I Trusted" from INSIDE. But if you're already a fan of Sweet's music and you've got everthing else (including INSIDE) give this one a try.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not awful, but not the place to start, December 12, 2005

By	Ethan Straffin (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you're reading this, you're quite possibly a Matthew Sweet fan already, so maybe you should buy this album, which contains several reasonably decent songs (though arguably no great ones). If you aren't: please, for the love of the higher power of your choice, start elsewhere (e.g. _Girlfriend_ or _100% Fun_). Otherwise, you run the risk of encountering "Underground" and concluding that all Sweet has to offer are your worst memories from the eighties distilled into a very painful three minutes and 38 seconds. Which isn't the case, because the man got significantly better from here.