Everclear's In a Different Light

Everclear’s In a Different Light is an acoustic rerecording of many of the band’s past hits and some new songs as well. Art Alexakis reformed Everclear and signed to a new label, 429 Records, with this album.
In a Different Light starts out with one of the band’s most recognized hits off the album So Much For The Afterglow, ‘Everything to Everyone.’ The song starts off with its signature keyboard droning and kicks in with acoustic guitar and simple drums. The song itself is very stripped down from the original version, and the maturity in Art’s voice can be heard after twelve years since the song was originally recorded.
The second rerecorded song on the album is a heartfelt version of ‘ Wonderful.’ The song itself is quite powerful in its original form on Songs From an American Movie, Vol. 1: Learning How To Smile, but the stripped down acoustic and again an older Art Alexakis creates a very different experience of the song.
‘At The End Of The Day’ is a brand new song that was never included on an album. It was written by art in 2004 but didn’t make the cut until now. It features some very gospel singer style backup vocals and great acoustic piano pieces. The lyrics are very different from classic Everclear, and more reflective on Art and his past: “I know / I would do it all again / At the end of the day.”
‘Santa Monica’ is one of the songs that put Everclear on the map back in 1995 with the album Sparkle and Fade. The song starts off with a nice little keyboard piece and continues with the acoustic guitar. The drums kick in at the second verse and the song really takes off after that. The acoustic rerecording hasn’t taken any of the original flavor away, just twisted it around.
‘Summerland’ comes after ‘Santa Monica’ on In A Different Light just as it did on Sparkle and Fade. ‘Summerland’ is a classic example of the dark lyrics Art has installed into many of the older Everclear songs: “I think I lost my smile / I think you lost yours too / We have lost the power to / Make each other laugh.”
‘Here Comes the Darkness’ is the other song on In a Different Light that is new. It was originally going to be recorded for 2006’s Welcome to the Drama Club. This song seems to be a middle ground between older Everclear and the new Everclear. It still holds on to some of the darkness but has a little of the maturity of the Art Alexakis of 2009.
‘Father of Mine,’ quite possibly one of the most well known Everclear songs, has also made the cut for the new album. The stripped down version is a noble attempt, but the original recording from So Much For The Afterglow contains so much more power and emotion, something that this song is built on.
‘Rock Star,’ originally off of Songs from an American Movie, Vol 2: Good Time for a Bad Attitude, is one of those forgotten songs. Good Time for a Bad Attitude never came to much recognition, even though ‘Rock Star’ was one of the singles released for the album. In the song Art sings “I don’t want to be a loser / I don’t want to be an almost was / I don’t wan to be a white trash working class chump / I don’t to be a loser anymore.” It seems quite ironic the song declaring this never made it while Everclear themselves did become rock stars to some degree.
‘Learning How to Smile’ is another one off its self titled album. It’s something of a country music style story song for alt rock. ‘I Will Buy You a New Life’ is another awesome hit off So Much For The Afterglow. While the song has lost some of the energy in the stripped down version, it has gained a lot of sincerity. Acoustic guitar is a perfect transition for this song.
It’s awesome that Everclear is back, but it is a bit sad that In A Different Light is the last album that will be featuring the old Everclear lineup. Art has unfortunately totally recreated the group after this recording and will be touring and recording with the new Everclear. So long 90’s Alternative Superheroes, hello Adult Alternative hits list.