The classic album for today is Fear (1991) by Toad the Wet Sprocket Fear is the third studio album released by Toad the Wet Sprocket, their second album for Columbia Records, released in 1991. Toad the Wet Sprockets first album, Bread & Circus, was self-recorded and released. Their second album, Pale, was self-recorded and the first released by Columbia. The album was preceded by the single Is It for Me, which failed to chart well. Its best known single, the second commercial release All I Want, which reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100, helped launch their career. On November 6, 1992, fear was certified gold and on September 1, 1994, it was certified platinum. Walk on the Ocean is a song by the rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket on their 1991 album Fear. It was also on the compilation album Almost Kinda Acoustic. Two different versions of the song were released: the album version with a cold ending (timed at 3:00), and the single version with the chorus repeated until fade (timed at 3:32). All I Want is a 1992 song by alternative rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket from their successful 1991 album Fear. All I Want was Toad the Wet Sprockets first successful song. It became one of their most well-known songs and reached the top twenty on the Billboard Hot 100. I had the opportunity to see Toad the Wet Sprocket live in 1988 in a small club in Ithaca, but Id never heard their music (much less heard of them), so I passed it up. When the single All I Want hit the airwaves a few years later, I managed to get a hold of a friends copy of the album, and I immediately regretted my lack of foresight those years earlier. This is one of maybe a dozen albums in my collection of nearly a thousand that I consider perfect in the sense that there are no clunker tracks, no filler. Every song is powerful, every song connects emotionally and musically. Although the disc is in my car CD changers regular rotation for roadtrips, I actually listen to it perhaps *less* often than some others, because its so powerful that I dont want to overdo it. In an age when bands were just trying to get their videos on MTV and ride the next wave of mainstream alternative, Toads sincerity oozed from every track. If you doubt it, try to imagine an all-male band singing an empathetic, apologetic anti-rape song... and pulling it off (Hold Her Down). No fan of rock music will regret owning this CD. Its Toad at their creative peak. I think Fear is probably the most complex of Toads albums, and with the most variety of moods. If Toad is indeed the thinking mans band, then this album is a quintessential piece of work. Youve got beauty in songs like Walk on the Ocean, a rather paradoxical simplistic diversity in Butterflies--a unique and unusual musical setup coupled with the contrastingly uncomplex central concept of the song--childish wonder in Is it For Me, raw anger in Hold Her Down, human yearning in All I want, wit in Something to Say, wistful appreciation in I Will Not Take These Things For Granted...Glen Phillips lyrics are characteristically haunting, and musically speaking, the depth of the band is incredible. If youre a Toadfan, Im surprised you dont have this, but if youre just getting into them or even have no idea who they are, buy it. I guarantee you will be completely blown away.... This album (and all of Toads) are even more important in my CD collection since Toads breakup. This CD finally saw Toad come into their own as a talented modern rock band. All of these songs are good, with only In My Ear being a slight disappointment. On most other albums, it would be good, but compared to the others, it has its shortcomings. The album opens with the single Walk on the Ocean, an uplifting if reserved look at moving on in life. Nightingale Song is unassuming and unambitious, but nonetheless is one of the best songs here. Pray Your Gods is one of the most inherently gorgeous rock songs ever, with the haunting female vocal at the end as a perfect resolution. I Will Not Take These Things for Granted is a triumph of lyricism, with numerous images of separation and tranquility describing the feeling of being away from someone you care deeply about. Stories I Tell has a great bass line throughout, which heightens the alienation expressed in the lyrics. All I Want is a superb work of songcraft, from the opening drum line, to the great guitar work, and superb vocals and lyrics throughout. The best facet of the album, especially compared to earlier ones, is the introduction of an edgier sound, though maintaining the bands great sense of melody. Hold Her Down is a great example, with its driving guitar and bass and angry lyrics. The band changes tempo in the song, too, which produces a great effect. Perhaps the most striking song, though, is Butterflies, with its use of spoken word, hard-driven drums, chantlike verses, and then dissolving into gorgeous three-part counterpoint harmony in the refrains. The complexity of the songs adds much to this CD. I would recommend it to anyone.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 18:44:33 +0000