Heavy Changes

Velvet Crush Listener's Guide

Maybe you just heard one of the albums and wanted to know what the rest of them are like.  Or maybe you've got all the albums and want to know what else is out there that you haven't heard.  Or maybe I'm just wasting space because the band is eventually going to re-release all these tracks anyway.  In any event, I've created the Listener's Guide to be not so much a comprehensive discography nor a critique of the Velvet Crush canon, but rather a quick 'n' dirty guide to the albums and to the wealth of great tracks found on their B-sides and what not.

If you're wondering where you can get some of the releases mentioned below, you basically have 3 options:

1) Visit the good folks at parasol.com, which is about as close to a one-stop Velvet Crush shop as you're going to find,

2) Bid up a storm on ebay, or

3) Sit tight and pray that sought-after Crush track you can't live without shows up on an Action Musik release soon (which it has, on the A Single Odessey album!  -ed.).

Happy hunting...

If you haven't heard the very first Velvet Crush single, "If Not True/One Thing Two Believe" (1990), you owe it to yourself to check it out.  Featuring chiming, Byrdsy guitars and a chorus that just soars and soars, "If Not True" is probably the most crucial non-album track in the world of VC.  The B-side is also stellar.  Both tracks get an assist from Matthew Sweet.

Intended at first as merely demos to get a record deal, In The Presence Of Greatness (1991) is one of the greatest indie-rock albums ever.  Featuring Matthew Sweet on guitar (and at the boards), the band rips through songs such as "Window To The World" and "Blind Faith", all the while maintaining their trademark tunefulness.  I like to call this album Velvet Crush with Crazy Horse.

ITPOG spawned several singles.  The Soul Crusher EP (1991) is notable for covers of Teenage Fanclub's "Everything Flows" and Jonathan Richman's "She Cracked".  The "Drive Me Down" single (1992) was recorded at the BBC and includes a hushed, acoustic version of the title track, as well as early versions of "Atmosphere" and "(Don't You) Slip Away".  But the real gem from the Greatness-era singles is the Post-Greatness EP (1992), which contains yet another version of "Atmosphere", plus "Butterfly Position" and the first take on "Gentle Breeze".  Ric has said he was never really crazy about "Breeze" #1, but I prefer the ragged glory of this version to the one on Free Expression.  "Butterfly" is a glorious explosion of feedback.  Along with the "If Not True" single, the Post-Greatness EP should be a must on your list.  If you can find a Japanese copy of ITPOG, all 3 tracks I mentioned on the EP are included as bonus tracks.

At last able to record with a budget (and Mitch Easter), Teenage Symphonies To God is where Velvet Crush makes its mark.  A lot of VC fans mention this one as their favorite, and it's not hard to see why.  Simply put, it's one of the best albums of the 90's.  You want great rockers?  You got 'em.  You want well-crafted pop masterpieces?  You got those too.  You want heart-wrenching country ballads?  You got it right here.  You want covers of great obscure songs?  You... get the idea.  If you don't have this album, stop reading and buy it.  Now.

There were two singles culled from TSTG.  "Hold Me Up" (1994) was released in a plethora of formats.  The Parasol 7" includes a cover of the Byrds' "Mr. Spaceman" as a B-side, while the Creation 12"/CD single includes a different Byrds cover, "One Hundred Years From Now", as well as a country-fried version of 'Don't You Slip Away From Me".  More difficult to find is the "Why Not Your Baby" CD single, which has B-sides such as a slightly-different Mitch Easter remix of "Time Wraps Around You", a live version of "My Blank Pages" (which I assume is the same track that will appear on Rock Concert), and an unreleased "It's Been Too Long And It's Too Late Now" (an uptempo rocking number in a similar vein as "This Life Is Killing Me").  The Japanese version of Teenage Symphonies includes the latter, along with "One Hundred Years From Now" and "Don't You Slip Away From Me".

Recorded during a period of turmoil for the band, Heavy Changes (1998) is referred to by Ric as Velvet Crush's 'blues album'.  Indeed, the band plays on the album as though hellhounds were on their trail.  The combination of record label apathy, writers block and personal difficulties resulted in Jeffrey leaving the group and very nearly caused the end of the band.  Ric has said that the group was influenced by 70's hard rock such as Slade and Mott the Hoople during recording, and it shows.  Again produced with Mitch Easter, this album rocks HARD, and although the songwriting may not be as consistent as previous efforts, Heavy Changes does not lack for great songs.  "Used To Believe" and "Play For Keeps" are fist-pumping, swaggering classics that really show off Ric's amazing drumming, and "Think It Over" matches up with any of their greatest songs.  As a bonus, one-time Crush member Pete Phillips solos like a mutha all over the record.

Only one single was released in conjunction with Heavy Changes, the hard-to-find, Japanese-only "Be Someone Tonight" (1997).  The title track is classic Crush, an effortless pop song with a killer hook.  The CD single has 2 B-sides: "Leisure 40", which may in fact be one of the first country-rock instrumentals ever, and "That Thing You Do", which essentially rewrites an old Paul Revere & the Raiders raveup called "Just Like Me".  The rumors that the latter was submitted for use in the Tom Hanks film are as yet unconfirmed.  The Japanese version of HC includes "Be Someone Tonight" as a bonus track, while the US version includes "Seen Better Days", which for some reason reminds me of Lynyrd Skynyrd or the Allmans.

Now pared down to a duo, Ric & Paul holed up with Matthew Sweet and released Free Expression (1999).  FE is a winner, a batch of great songs played and sung with a lot of TLC.  The album has a very laid-back feel; even the harder-rocking numbers sound relaxed.  Paul's singing really shines on this album, especially on "Melody #1" and 'Heaven Knows'.  As a bonus, the Japanese version of Free Expression contains the great "On My Side", two-and-a-half minutes of endless harmony from Paul.

Click here to go to part deux of the Velvet Crush Listener's Guide

Home