Sparkle and Fade became a surprise hit thanks to "Santa Monica," a gritty, infectious grunge hit that captured Everclear at their best.
Like many grunge and post-grunge rockers, however, Everclear's leader, Art Alexakis, felt constrained by his modest success and its implications, deciding to take his band in new experimental directions for their follow-up album, So Much for the Afterglow.
As the title suggests -- as well as song titles like "One Hit Wonder," "White Men in Black Suits," and "Everything to Everyone" -- Alexakis is feeling a bit ambivalent about his success, believing that it's only a transient thing.
He may be right -- So Much for the Afterglow lacks anything as catchy as "Santa Monica." He attempts to compensate by adding a more elaborate production, complete with Beach Boy harmonies and guest musicians.
The result sounds cluttered, not symphonic, and distracts from Everclear's strength as a straight-ahead grunge trio.
There are several songs on the album that do showcase the group at their best, but they aren't enough to excuse the confused attempts at progression that make So Much for the Afterglow a muddled affair.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | So Much for the AfterglowArt Alexakis, Everclear | Everclear | Play | 03:53 | 0 MB | 28 MB |
| 2 | Everything to EveryoneArt Alexakis, Everclear | Everclear | Play | 03:20 | 0 MB | 25 MB |
| 3 | Ataraxia (Media Intro)Art Alexakis, Everclear | Everclear | Play | 00:34 | 0 MB | 2 MB |
| 4 | Normal Like YouArt Alexakis, Everclear | Everclear | Play | 03:13 | 0 MB | 23 MB |
| 5 | I Will Buy You a New LifeArt Alexakis, Everclear | Everclear | Play | 03:58 | 0 MB | 28 MB |
| 6 | Father of MineArt Alexakis, Everclear | Everclear | Play | 03:51 | 0 MB | 29 MB |
| 7 | One Hit WonderArt Alexakis, Everclear | Everclear | Play | 03:28 | 0 MB | 25 MB |
| 8 | AmphetamineArt Alexakis, Everclear | Everclear | Play | 03:35 | 0 MB | 25 MB |
| 9 | White Men in Black SuitsArt Alexakis, Everclear | Everclear | Play | 03:32 | 0 MB | 26 MB |
| 10 | SunflowersArt Alexakis, Everclear | Everclear | Play | 03:47 | 0 MB | 29 MB |
| 11 | Why I Don't Believe in GodArt Alexakis, Everclear | Everclear | Play | 04:17 | 0 MB | 30 MB |
| 12 | Like a California KingArt Alexakis, Everclear | Everclear | Play | 08:08 | 0 MB | 51 MB |
| 13 | El Distorto de Melodica [Instrumental] | Everclear | Play | 03:07 | 0 MB | 24 MB |
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| 48 mins | 349 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Art Alexakis | Banjo, Composer, Cover Art Concept, Cover Design, Guitar, Guitar (Steel), Horn Arrangements, Keyboards, Mandolin, Piano, Producer, String Arrangements, Toy Piano, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals |
| 2 | Neal Avron | Engineer, Horn Arrangements, Mixing, Producer, Trumpet, Vocal Arrangement |
| 3 | Tom Banghart | Assistant Engineer |
| 4 | Mike Baumgartner | Assistant Engineer |
| 5 | Steven Birch | Art Direction, Coordination, Cover Art Concept, Cover Design, Design |
| 6 | Ian Blanch | Mixing Assistant |
| 7 | Nick Brophy | Assistant Engineer |
| 8 | Paul Cantelon | Violin |
| 9 | Greg Eklund | Assistant Producer, Composer, Drums, Keyboards, Percussion, Slide Whistle, Vocals |
| 10 | Everclear | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 11 | Lars Fox | Assistant Producer, Loops, Sampling |
| 12 | Dave Friedlander | Assistant Engineer |
| 13 | Krista Gaylor | Photography |
| 14 | Bill Jackson | Assistant Engineer |
| 15 | Rami Jaffee | Guest Artist, Vox Organ |
| 16 | Bob Ludwig | Mastering |
| 17 | Craig Montoya | Assistant Producer, Composer, Guitar (Bass), Keyboards, Mandolin, Sound Effects, Vocals |
| 18 | Derron Nuhfer | Saxophone |
| 19 | Frank Ockenfels | Cover Art, Photography |
| 20 | Ronnie Rivera | Assistant Engineer |
| 21 | Jim Rondinelli | Assistant Producer, Engineer, String Arrangements |
| 22 | Buddy Schnaub | Trombone |
| 23 | Gerri Sutyak | Cello |
| 24 | Kenneth A. Van Druten | Assistant Engineer |
| 25 | Andy Wallace | Mixing |
| 26 | Perry Watts-Russell | Executive Producer |
| 27 | Joe Zook | Editing, Editing Assistant, Transfer Assistant |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |