Everclear (1992- )
Everclear is
currently,
officially composed of three people:
Everclear has
released 5 CDs so far:
Band History: Art Alexakis was raised in a
dysfunctional environment. His parents
divorced when he was five. He went to live with his mother and older brother in the
projects. His
older brother died of a
heroin over-dose when Art was twelve. Art soon started using drugs also. He got his
first guitar when he was a teenager. He fell
deeper and deeper into
drug addiction until his girlfriend also died of an overdose. Still addicted, Art nearly overdosed on
cocaine himself. That really had an effect on Art and he swore off drugs and
alchohol.
After Art had gone to
college (
Santa Monica and
UCLA) and gotten
married, he moved to
San Francisco in
1987 and created his own label,
Shindig Records. He also created a
country/
alternative band called "
Colorfinger".
Art got divorced, Colorfinger broke up, and Shindig filed for
bankruptcy. In 1991, Art moved to
Portland,
Oregon with his pregnant girlfriend. That is where he started Everclear consisting of himself, Craig Montoya, and
Scott Cuthbert (on drums).
The band's first album (World of Noise) was released in 93 on Tim/Kerr Records. After the album was released, Cuthbert was
replaced by Greg Eklund and
Tim/Kerr Records was replaced by
Capitol Records who
signed Everclear in 94 and gave them
complete creative control.
From then on they released Sparkle and Fade which included the hit single "Santa Monica" which, through airing on
MTV, gained the band a lot of
popularity. What surprised many Everclear fans though was that in it's first two albums, Everclear was really a
grunge band, but in 1997 they released So Much For the Afterglow which was really a
pop album. With that album, Everclear gained a lot of new fans but lost a few old ones. Everclear's next cd, Learning How To Smile seemed to be a lot like So Much For the Afterglow, but the following cd after that brought back a lot of
old school fans with it's
hard rock.
My Opinion: (Please excuse me if I lose myself) In my opinion,
Everclear is the best
band ever
organised. I've truly enjoyed every single song that I've ever heard by them, and own all of their ablums and a few of their songs they've done for
sound tracks. I really
love the
music they make but what really attracts me to Everclear is the
lyrics. Some of their songs have made me (a full grown man) cry because of the
heart-felt lyrics. Many bands talk about all the problems they had
growing up
poor, but Art really does know what it's like. He loves his
daughter, his parents
divorced, and he had a
serious drug problem which he
overcame and some how it really
strikes a chord in me. Art has spoken out in front of congress about
cracking down on
domestic violence, which Art has witnessed personally. I just think Art Alexakis is a
lyrical master, and he really
knows what he is
talking about.
Track Listings
World of Noise
1.
Your Genius Hands
2.
Sick and Tired
3.
The Laughing World
4.
Fire Maple Song
5.
Pennsylvania Is...
6.
Nervous and Weird
7.
Malevolent
8.
Sparkle
9.
Trust Fund
10.
Loser Makes Good
11.
Invisible
12.
Evergleam
Sparkle and Fade
1.
Electra Made Me Blind
2.
Heroin Girl
3.
You Make Me Feel Like a Whore
4.
Santa Monica
5.
Summerland
6.
Strawberry
7.
Heartspark Dollarsign
8.
The Twistinside
9.
Her Brand New Skin
10.
Nehalem
11.
Queen of the Air
12.
Pale Green Stars
13.
Chemical Smile
14.
My Sexual Life
So Much For the Afterglow
1.
So Much For the Afterglow
2.
Everything to Everyone
3.
Ataraxia (media intro)
4.
Normal Like You
5.
I Will Buy You a New Life
6.
Father of Mine
7.
One Hit Wonder
8.
El Distorto de Melodica
9.
Amphetamine
10.
White Men in Black Suits
11.
Sunflowers
12.
White I Don't Believe in God
13.
Like a California King (plus "
I Will Be Hating You for Christmas" as a bonus track)
Songs From An American Movie:
Vol. One: Learning How To Smile
1.
Song from an American Movie
2.
Here We Go Again
3.
AM Radio
4.
Brown Eyed Girl
5.
Learning How to Smile
6.
The Honeymoon Song
7.
Now That It's Over
8.
Thrift Store Chair
9.
Otis Reading
10.
Unemployed Boyfriend
11.
Wonderful
12.
Annabella's Song
Vol. Two: Good Time For a Bad Attitude
1.
When It All Goes Wrong Again
2.
Slide
3.
Babytalk
4.
Rock Star
5.
Short Blonde Hair
6.
Misery Whip
7.
Out of My Depth
8.
The Good Witch of the North
9.
Halloween Americana
10.
All F**ked Up
11.
Overwhelming
12.
Song from an American Movie pt. 2
Songs by Everclear, not on an Everclear cd:
1975
Annabella's Song
Blondes
Detroit
Drunk Again
For Pete's Sake
Happy Hour
Hateful
I'm On Your Time
Lame
Local God
Pacific Wonderland
Slow Motion Genius
The Swing
Sin City (
AC/DC Cover)