Assault Shrapnel #5

(Contrary to what you see on Assault, we still have time to lovingly peruse our old music collections. With that in mind, Jere has fired up his iPod, set it to “random album” and reviewed the first three things that pop up. We call it Assault Shrapnel, where nothing is off-limits and you don’t know what’ll hit you!)

U2 -- The Best of 1990 -- 2000 (The B-Sides)

This collection may be among the least essential things imaginable. U2′s run in the ’90s was not quite dire (my overall favorite U2 album is Achtung Baby, after all), but it was inconsistent. One reason for this was their attempts at integrating dance music into their sound. And, of course, with dance comes remixes. This CD is filled with so many remixes, each one more bland than the last. Oh, and “Electrical Storm,” which was presented inasppiness is a Warm Gun,” which is worse than the entire I Am Sam soundtrack combined and doubled.

Elvis Presley -- 2nd to None

A haphazard collection, intended as a sequel to 30 #1 Hits. That collection hit on the bare-bone basics while missing some essential tracks -- “Viva Las Vegas,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “That’s Alright Mama” among them -- so this compilation was an inevitability. Elvis is not an artist with a lack of great material, either. Unfortunately, rushing through Presley’s entire career has the effect of rushing everything. It’s the opposite problem of Jerry Lee Lewis’ Sun Essentials from the last Assault Shrapnel; there’s no unifying factor to this collection other than “throw in a bunch of Elvis songs and stop when you get to 70 minutes.” Ultimately, some of the songs don’t stack up. For every couple gems like “Kentucky Rain” and “I Forget to Remember to Forget,” there’s a novelty like “Rock a Hula Baby.” The Paul Oakenfold remix of “Rubberneckin’” doesn’t help.

Pearl Jam -- Vs.

Pearl Jam is a band that strikes me as one I should like more than I do, yet never can. Consistently, they give me 3-4 songs to love on a given album, they are a spectacular live band, and they never come off as lazy. I’d give every Pearl Jam album a B+ at best (Vs.) and at worst, a B. I know, I’m not specifically writing about Vs., their second album, but I can never invest myself fully into them.

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About the Author

Jere is not from Chicago. Nor is he from Parts Unknown. But he sure loves to hear things. Follow him on Twitter!

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