THE CD: Welcome to the Drama Club
THE ARTIST: Everclear
WEBSITE: here
SELECT TRACKS: Hater; Glorious; Your Arizona Room
YOU’LL LIKE IT IF: You were alive in the ’90s

Somewhere between the much-hyped September 12th new releases of Beyonce and John Mayer, the ’90s and early 2000’s hit maker known as Everclear somewhat quietly released their new album, “Welcome to the Drama Club,” on the same day.

I say somewhat quietly with good reason. While the album more or less slipped under the radar in terms of hyped releases, the video for the first single “Hater” has sparked something of a controversy with many. It even prompted Bill O’Reilly to invite Everclear front man Art Alexakis on his Fox News show to defend his position on the controversial video.

While I won’t go into all that, (just check out the video on You Tube here), I can say that “Welcome to the Drama Club” is a return to Everclear’s classic ’90’s sound made famous on 1995’s platinum release “Sparkle and Fade” and 1997’s multi-platinum “So Much for the Afterglow.”

What is more impressive about Everclear’s new/old sound is that Art Alexakis is the only remaining original member after a 2003 split. New members consist of bassist Sam Hudson, guitarist Dave French, drummer Brett Snyder and Keyboardist Josh Crawley.

Much of what I liked about Everclear in the past had to do with Art’s autobiographical style of songwriting, and “Welcome to the Drama Club” keeps that tradition alive by diving straight to the heart of Art’s personal life. Considering the recent divorce of Art and his wife and declaring bankruptcy after a 2004 split with Capitol Records, the title “Welcome to The Drama Club” may be an understatement.

The albums first single “Hater,” which I have to admit, did not get the best fanfare when reviewed as a single with digital distributors such as iTunes and Musicmatch, is actually much better than I had originally thought. Described by Alexakis as the ultimate break-up song, “Hater” is actually an upbeat declaration of everything Art doesn’t like about his partner — with cowbell included (don’t let that deter you from checking it out).

Other tracks on the album include the country sound of “Portland Rain,” the love story of “Your Arizona Room,” “A Taste of Hell,” “Drama King” and “Shameless Use of Charm,” which are all pretty tight tracks that won’t disappoint longtime Everclear fans.

By far the albums best song is “Glorious,” a tale of love lost which is probably the best thing they have done since 2000’s “Wonderful.” The lyrics are nothing out of the ordinary but the song really takes it up a notch with the chorus: ‘Everything fades away/The world changes everyday/When I think about you and what we had/It makes me want to say… Glorious.’

All in all, this album is much better than 2003’s “Slow Motion Daydream.” If a new Everclear album is not up your alley, but you still want to check out their old stuff just look for 2004’s “Ten Years Gone: The Best of Everclear.”

– Mark Totten

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