Alkaline Trio: Damnesia

Alkaline Trio: Damnesia

2011

Heart & Skull/Epitaph Records

Format I Own it On: Compact Disc

Track Listing:  1. Calling All Skeletons  2. Nose Over Tail  3. This Could Be Love  4. Every Thug Needs a Lady  5. Clavicle  6. Mercy Me  7. The American Scream  8. We've Had Enough  9. Olde English 800  10. I Held Her in My Arms  11.Blue in the Face  12. I Remember a Rooftop  13. Private Eye  14. You've Got So Far to Go  15. Radio

This is the kind of record Bon Jovi or Foreigner might put out...Where the band re-records their greatest hits as acoustic songs. To be blunt these releases are usually for bands whose fans are just too damn old to rock and refuse to listen to any new songs, because they'll only accept music they've already heard ten billion times...But Alkaline Trio fans shouldn't fall into this category yet...We still have a few good years left in us! So why does this exist?

I don't really know. But it is pretty decent listen if'n you're into Alkaline Trio and you're feeling mellow. I guess the big draw here would be the new songs. "Old English 800" in particular is really fun...




Of course, I'm going to like any song with the title "Old English 800" (although I think it would work even better as a punk song). There's also a cover of the Violent Femmes "I Held Her in my Arms."  I've never heard the original so I can't say how it holds up next to the Femme's version but the song blends in really well with its surroundings...

(Looking at those bottles of OE reminds me of the time I bought a couple and mixed them with orange juice...The combined effect of the two 40's and gallon of orange juice consumed within such a small period of time produced one of the most gut-twisting stomach aches I've yet encountered...mixing the two is not a good idea...I repeat...not...a...good...idea!)

I think this works as a fitting cap to my two weeks spent with Alkaline Trio's music...Like I said, it's basically a greatest hits package and you get to hear how awesome "Mercy Me" really is...This song towers over everything else on here, even "Radio" (which I think loses a lot of its power without its cathartic explosion of electric guitars occur mid-song...) They band performs the songs well, they create a relaxed, moody atmosphere, and they alter the arrangements enough to keep things interesting if you've already heard all these songs a billion times... Of course a record like this is only recommended to diehards, anyway...

Let's check out "Olde English 800" by Alkaline Trio...Enjoy...