Matthew Sweet - Altered Beast

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Music reviews of Altered Beast

Music Review: Worth every penny!
Rating: 5 Stars

I got this CD when it came out way back in the day after reading a mixed review of 'Altered Beast'. The way the reviewer described it as a dark, multifaceted and moody piece; I just couldn't stay away.

This CD is a rollercoaster of emotion that will leave you exhausted at the end of it. Many different textures and moods are displayed throughout the course of this album.

I was particularly stunned by the musicianship shown here. The songs are written very well, with excellent skill shown on each instrument. Robert Quine and Richard Lloyd both play lead guitar here, and do one heck of a job. Their solos are very non-traditional to the point of being a breath of fresh air. Throughtout the songs they let their skills wander over the track, yet show restraint by not playing where the song does not permit. With Matthew Sweet on the vocals and playing bass and rhythm guitar on most songs, he provides a solid centre for the songs that he's written. There are so many complex and interesting layers to each song that interact with each other in different ways.

Dinosaur Act is one of 'angrier' songs here. It is a mid-tempo tune that opens up with Sweet extracting wierd dinosaur-like sounds out of a guitar.

Devil With The Green Eyes is an excellent song with an arpeggiated rhythm guitar combined with some lap steel guitar forming the basis of the song. Matt's harmonized vocals in the choruses are hauntingly lovely.

The Ugly Truth is a country-twanged song due mainly to the prominent fiddle. This one features more harmonized vocals... very cool. This song was a single? Not worthy of that in my mind.

Time Capsule... another single. This one is more deserving of that status. There are some excellent plays with vocals overlapping each other in this song.

Someone To Pull The Trigger is a wonderfully depressing little ditty. Matt's fragile vocals get the point across.

Knowing People's chorus should be my personal anthem. This song features some extremely cool lead guitar. At one point Richard Lloyd even makes a noise come from the guitar that sounds like a piece of glass breaking and then a bunch of tin cans falling on the floor! (Does this guy know Jimi Hendrix?) The rest of the song is another midtempo rocking tune.

Life Without You is a yearning tune that, with the lyrics that you hear, would expect to be a slower song. The song clocks in at 2:18, but this one could have easily been dragged out to about 4-5 minutes.

The intro to Ugly Truth Rock features a snippet of the movie Caligula with Malcolm McDowell of A Clockwork Orange fame.

Ugly Truth Rock is a faster and more rockin' version of The Ugly Truth minus the annoying fiddle playing (it is replaced with lead guitar).

Do It Again is a song about emotional warfare within relationships. It features some clean guitar and an awesome solo.

In Too Deep is a dark and evil sounding song. Some heavy, distorted (compared to the rest of the CD) guitar features prominently as well as some interesting leads. Another of the angrier songs on this CD... one of my favorites.

Reaching Out is a melancholy tune that features Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac) playing the drums. Very laid back, yet desparate. Another favorite.

Falling is one of my favorites as well. If you could summarize this song into two words, they would be 'Lost Hope'. The solo here smokes and Matt's vocals provide the rain that are trying to put out the fire of the lead guitar.

What Do You Know struck a real chord with me. Having been betrayed in the past, the lyrics really say what you are thinking when a partner has went behind your back with someone else. The music fits the lyrics somehow, but in a strange way.

Evergreen ends off this emotionally complex and draining CD on a surprisingly somewhat positive note. The music and vocals are very sombre but the lyrics themselves provide a hint of optimism. A beautiful song.

This is some great rainy day music to accompany any melancholy mood. This is one of the very few CD's I can listen to over and over again back to back. Matthew Sweet is one of the most accomplished yet underrated songwriters I have ever listened to. Altered Beast is proof.

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