When Life Gives You Lemonheads...
3 out of 5 Stars
Evan Dando and his rotating cast of Lemonheads are one of those bands that seemed on the brink of becoming huge stars, cut a near flawless album, and then watched it all mysteriously slip away in a mess of drugs, alcohol and ego. Dando had the movie star good looks, his band cut easy to digest jangle-pop with his warm vocals delivering the lyrics. Imagine a catchier REM being fronted with a voice like The Smithereens' Pat DiNizio.
"The Atlantic Years" covers The Lemonheads' four album tenure with that classic label, ignoring the punkier indie years and the albums Dando cut after he cleaned up. But it also ignores Lovey (the song "Ride With Me" is an acoustic remake), and only features two tracks from Car Button Cloth. Which means that, out of 12 songs, 9 come from the albums It's a Shame About Ray
and Come on Feel the Lemonheads. While these are Dando's best songs, there's obviously a lot of room for an expanded edition. The almost hit from "Come On Feel...., "Into Your Arms," is here, and no-one has ever rocked Paul Simon the way Dando did with the remake of "Mrs. Robinson." Dando's gal-pal Juliana Hatfield is a frequent guest vocalist. But given the somewhat lopsided division of songs, you'd be excused for just picking up "Ray" and waiting for a deluxe best of to inevitably arrive.
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