Is that the best you’ve got? Volume 1

The Best of Silverchair Volume 1

Plus Complete Videology DVD

Tracklist:

1.   1.  Anthem for the Year 2000
2.     Freak
3.     Ana's Song (Open Fire)
4.     Emotion Sickness
5.     Israel's Son
6.     Tomorrow
7.     Cemetery
8.     Door
9.     Miss You Love
10.  Abuse Me
11.  Pure Massacre
12.  Untitled
13.  New Race
14.  Trash
15.  Ana’s Song (Acoustic Remix)
16.  Madman
17.  Blind
18.  Punk Song #2
19.  Wasted/ Fix Me
20.  Minor Threat
21.  Freak (Remix For Us Rejects)

The Australian band originally debuted in 1995 when they released of the album frogtomp. At the time, 3 the members were only teenagers. Since then, the group has gained in popularity worldwide. This album contains some of the hits released by the band ranging from 1995-1999. It was released in November of 2000. Interestingly enough, this “greatest hits” album was released a little more than a year after the release of their 3rd album, Neon Ballroom. When the album was originally released, I thought that it seemed unusual for a band to release a “best of” album when they were still producing radio quality music. I did not, however, investigate as to why.

Flash forward more than a decade and add an online class which requires me to blog…and some light is shed on the situation for me. I learned that Sony Records released the album without the bands consent in 2000 after the band left the label. The ever-reliable website Wikipedia quotes lead singer Daniel Johns as saying:

         “We thought about putting out ads in the street press to make people aware that we weren't endorsing it, but that would have blown the whole thing out of proportion ... If people want to buy it, they can buy it but I wouldn't buy it if I was a Silverchair fan." 

            Having learned this, I feel like I was duped into buying this album, even though I                         

           thoroughly enjoy the music on the album.The accredited artists on this album are main members:

•        Daniel Johns- Vocals, guitars, piano, harpsichord, orchestral arrangements (tracks 2, 4, 10)

•        Ben Gillies- Drums

•        Chris Joannou-Bass guitar

Additional artists:

•         Rob Woolf – Hammond organ

•         Michele Rose – Pedal steel

•         Paul Mac – Piano and keyboards

•         Jim Moginie– Keyboards (tracks 2, 5), piano (track 5)

         It had been a while since I listened to this album in its entirety. In order to do a review, I needed to refresh my musical memory. I had not listened to this album in a while and never with such scrutiny before now. Perhaps this is the reason why I found so many flaws with the albums progression that I had never noticed before. Then again, it was also pointed out in some of the other websites that I found while doing band research. Whatever the reason, the flaws now stand out like a sore thumb. Some examples are the transitions from a hard rock Freak (track 2) to the emotional ballad-like Ana’s Song (track 3), then the grunge style Israel’s Son and Tomorrow are followed by three of the most mellow, easy listening tracks Silverchair has produced.

         Though the recordings are high quality, the album seems to have no logical order as it jumps from fast to slow tempo and back again. Perhaps this is because the tracks cover their early years, a 5-6 year period where the band was struggling to find their own identity and their own sound. I enjoy every track on this album, but the track order does seem a bit irritating to me now. That being said, it is quite impressive that this group has been able to work together to achieve so many different sounds. Silverchair showed that, after mastering it, they could go beyond the “Seattle grunge scene” of the 90’s and stay relevant. It seems that no matter what type of mood you’re in, there is a Silverchair song that is applicable. They worked well together as a group and could seemingly do it all!

         After almost 20 years together, Silverchair members parted ways in 2011.  They vowed when they started the band as 12 year-olds that when they stopped having fun with their music, they would disband. After a 2011 attempt to make a record, they realized that the time had come. Seeing as though this “Best of” album was released in the early years of the band, I fully expect to see another true “Best of Silverchair” album in the near future.