I was first
introduced to Rusted Root during my
college years spent at
Slippery Rock University. This was back in 1993-94 when
Cruel Sun was their only
album.
Then I went away to Slovakia for two years. Soon after I came back in 1996-97, their first commercial album, Rusted Root was released.
They had done a number of things to make themselves more palatable. They reduced the overall length of their songs by removing their truly fantastic unending solos, watering down their overall sound, and applying the ‘studio magic’ that removed their otherwise rich lo-fi sound.
I was disgusted. Cruel Sun is such a superior work, the mind boggles In the imaginary world where I make up things and they are true, Rusted Root died in an airplane crash in 1993, and left behind a single perfect work.