Out-of-State Plates [IMPORT]

Fountains of Wayne (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 28, 2005)
• Original Release Date: June 28, 2005
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI Europe Generic
• ASIN: B0009OL808
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,842 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Rock > Power Pop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Out-of-State Plates is the byproduct of nearly a decade of Fountains of Wayne's stellar power-pop pursuits. The 28 performances (two other tracks are brief, snarky radio excerpts) culled together on this double-disc anthology may represent demos and previously unreleased leftovers from the band's three albums, but their consistent quality belies any notion of the extraneous. Also spotlighted are two new performances: the rollicking rush "Maureen" and the infectious, pop-souful "The Girl I Can't Forget." An eclectic slate of covers ranges from wistful takes on Jackson Browne's "These Days" and ELO's "Can't Get It Out of My Head" to a spry, countrified version of Gene Pitney's "Today's Teardrops" and their delicious, barely tongue-in-cheek cult-fave version of Britney Spears's "...Baby One More Time." Another delight is "California Sex Lawyer," while the mirthful "I Want an Alien for Christmas" and "The Man in the Santa Suit" offer up some welcome holiday cheer. The package also includes a track-by-track commentary by band mainstays Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars B-Sides, Rarities, and Other Delights, July 12, 2005

By	WrtnWrd "Hankman" (Northridge, CA USA) - See all my reviews

You know, normally a CD collection of b-side and various band ephemera is another way of saying: give us your money. There is the occasional good collection (Suede's Sci-Fi Lullabies; The Smiths' Louder Than Bombs). Mostly, it's dross. But Fountains of Wayne's Out-of-State Plates is consistently good, better, I believe, than their first two records (though not Welcome Interstate Managers). Highlights abound, including a version of "Baby One More Time", the new songs that are here for bait, and a lovely experiment called "Nightlight".

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fountains of great music, July 10, 2005

By	Tankery "Tankery" (New Orleans) - See all my reviews

This is a classic American pop band that reminds me more than a little of English bands XTC and even the Kinks. These latter two bands wrote incredible, power pop songs that were heavy on the guitar and satire and should be played on the radio but that no longer is a valid statement in America today. Radio stations today are plug and play garbage stations that are one minute Jazz lite and the next 80's hit or turbo country or some such crap.

Their songs like Carpet King and Sex Lawyer and I'll do the driving evoke American landscapes that would easily fit within a Coen Brothers movie or any alternative Foreign flick that is heavy on the absurdity while staking a deep foundation in reality.


FOW is every bit a great rock and roll band from lyric to guitar lick. Stacy's Mom illustrated how clever they can be, and these B-Sides illustrate how even their album near-misses are stronger than most anything out there.

There's a cool country ballad on here and when they want to do Country they do it way too well-It slaps poor quality country artists hard. And, their musical influence Oasis appears once again also in the song, Elevator Up. (too bad Oasis doesn't hire this group to write their tired cliched lyrics...)

FOW is hopefully going to be around for a long time. With the Kinks aging gracefully out of the picture and the great Zevon gone, we vitally need a brilliant song-writing band that can also power-chord to keep cranking it out.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Songs so catchy, they should be quarantined!, August 14, 2005

By	M J Heilbron Jr. "Dr. Mo" (Long Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

You would think it takes some sort of hubris to put out a B-sides & rarities disc only three album into a career; let alone making it a DOUBLE album...

But as their career has proven, Fountains of Wayne know exactly what they're doing. This blissfully pure pop-rock group has assembled over two dozen choice "throwaways"...

..."throwaways"? Right. Hardly...

They're all interesting, many are great, several are awesome, and the best single of the year is tossed in for kicks. This compilation is better than most of the albums released over the last 12 months.

"The Girl I Can't Forget" is the song that should be number one for the summer of 2005, except for the fact that people seem to have forgotten how joyous pure rocking pop music could be. The first time I heard this song, I grinned from ear to ear, and it's been in "heavy rotation" in my car ever since.

Trust me on this one: just listen to it once. That's all it'll take.

"Maureen", the other new song on the collection, is only slightly less great. These songs are so catchy, they should be quarantined.

Many of the songs have a healthy sense of humor ("California Sex Lawyer", "I Want an Alien for Christmas"), or convey simple ideas in some nifty way ("Baby I've Changed", "You're Just Never Satisfied").

The regaled cover of "...Baby One More Time" is actually...no I'm not kidding...good. They tweak it just so. You'll first think you're listening to some cool, slow, emo-ish rocker. Then you'll start to recognize the lyrics, and think, "No WAY." It's cool. Really.

Seriously, here you have two records of never-boring songs, several of which will permanently encamp themselves in your frontal lobe.

And PLEASE check out "The Girl I Can't Forget"...it's one of those songs you want to tell everyone about...so I am.