Shawn Mullins struggled to be heard for nearly a decade before he had an unexpected breakthrough in 1998 with "Lullaby," a standout song on his major-label debut Soul's Core.
The song was such a huge hit that it expanded his following exponentially, creating an audience for his early work.
Much of that music was independently released on his SMG label, which made it difficult to find.
The First Ten Years solves that problem.
The record contains ten selections from his early records, plus a new recording of "Lately" and his two soundtrack contributions ("Changes," which was in Robert Rodriguez's alien horror flick The Faculty, and a cover of George Harrison's "What Is Life," which closed Adam Sandler's blockbuster hit, Big Daddy).
These newer recordings may take away from the goal of the compilation, but not too much, especially since they help provide constancy.
It's still apparent that Mullins' was finding his voice, but that results in some charming music, even if it's not always successful.
Ultimately, The First Ten Years isn't as polished or as strong as Soul's Core, but it provides enough glimpses of what was to come to make it worthwhile to recent Mullins converts.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LatelyShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 04:21 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 2 | What Is LifeGeorge Harrison | Shawn Mullins | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 32 MB |
| 3 | Salt Lake City 1973Shawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 01:49 | 4 MB | 9 MB |
| 4 | JoshuaShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 05:22 | 12 MB | 30 MB |
| 5 | Drumming ClownShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 18 MB |
| 6 | PandoraShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 03:41 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 7 | Evolution ManShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 04:54 | 11 MB | 21 MB |
| 8 | This Time/Last TimeShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 03:00 | 6 MB | 21 MB |
| 9 | Just Like MeShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 04:55 | 11 MB | 21 MB |
| 10 | EggshellsShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 04:12 | 9 MB | 23 MB |
| 11 | The DreamShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 04:56 | 11 MB | 29 MB |
| 12 | Canyons & CavernsShawn Mullins | Shawn Mullins | Play | 04:20 | 9 MB | 22 MB |
| 13 | ChangesDavid Bowie | Shawn Mullins | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 53 mins | 121 MB | |||||
| 53 mins | 304 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Bazilian | Bass, Engineer, Guest Artist, Guitar (Electric), Producer, Saxophone |
| 2 | Curt Bisquera | Shaker, Tambourine |
| 3 | David Bowie | Composer |
| 4 | Kim Bullard | Keyboards, Programming |
| 5 | David Campbell | Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements |
| 6 | Richard Dodd | Mixing |
| 7 | David Dominguez | Assistant Engineer |
| 8 | George Drakoulias | Drums, Mixing, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 9 | Davey Faragher | Bass |
| 10 | Dennis Farias | Trumpet |
| 11 | Greg Fidelman | Engineer |
| 12 | Anton Fig | Drums, Guest Artist |
| 13 | Russ Fowler | Engineer |
| 14 | Josh Freese | Drums |
| 15 | Alex Gibson | Assistant Engineer |
| 16 | Greg Goldman | Engineer |
| 17 | Jeff Golub | Guest Artist, Guitar (Acoustic) |
| 18 | Chris Harris | Photography |
| 19 | George Harrison | Composer |
| 20 | David Henderson | Bass, Vocals (Background) |
| 21 | Adam Holzman | Guest Artist, Keyboards |
| 22 | Scott Hull | Mastering |
| 23 | Andrew Hyra | Vocals |
| 24 | Matthew Kahler | Congas |
| 25 | Marty Kearns | Organ |
| 26 | Mickey King | Drums |
| 27 | Nick Lane | Trombone |
| 28 | Levi | Bass |
| 29 | Michael Lorant | Drums |
| 30 | Chris Lord-Alge | Mixing |
| 31 | Glenn Matullo | Assistant Engineer, Engineer, Handclapping |
| 32 | Don McCollister | Bass, Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Synthesizer, Vocals (Background) |
| 33 | Travis Aaron McNabb | Percussion |
| 34 | Shawn Mullins | Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Horn Arrangements, Piano, Piano (Electric), Primary Artist, Producer, Tambourine, Vocals, Water Bottle |
| 35 | Brendan O'Brien | Bass, Guitar, Vocals (Background) |
| 36 | David Patterson | Guitar, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Electric) |
| 37 | Tim Pierce | Guitar |
| 38 | Julian Raymond | Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 39 | David Schiffman | Engineer |
| 40 | Tom Sheehan | Photography |
| 41 | Kevin Shirley | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 42 | Matt Silva | Mixing |
| 43 | Gretchen Stroh | Photography |
| 44 | Rob Sumowski | Percussion |
| 45 | Lee R. Thomburg | Trumpet |
| 46 | Michael Ward | Guitar (Acoustic) |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| 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). |