Everclear Reborn

adam42381

Apparently, Art Alexakis needs money since his 2005 bankruptcy. http://www.undercover.com.au/news/2005/jan05/20050112_everclear.html
Of course, Everclear is no longer Art along with Craig Montoya and Greg Eklund. Montoya and Eklund left the band in 2003 and Art is now doing an Axl and touring under the Everclear name with his new band. The new album is supposed to come out in September with the new single "Hater" being hailed as the "Break-Up Song of 2006". Sounds a little sad to me.
http://newmedia.10thst.com/115/
http://www.myspace.com/everclear

jammerfall

I used to defend Art until I saw him treat some fans like shit at a Portland club late last year. Man, he was "just too busy" (doing absolutely nothing and not exactly being bombarded by rabid fans) to spend a few minutes talking with these two guys that were obviously into Everclear.

What a putz.

red mos

Everclear was a great band, but an Ever clear without Greg and Craig is not gonna fly. Even with Greg and Craig, they headlined a show in Houston, and were hailed as poorly prepaired, and out of practice.... the worst band at the woodlands that year. That was with Craig and Greg, imagine Everclear without them.... a downwards spiral in the making!

Jammin909

I like Everclear but I have completely tuned out to any of their new work since I heard them play the "Soccer Mom" song on Leno.

JOEJOEJOE

Art A. was on the steve jones show on Indie 103.1......he was a prick...he mentioned how he drives around in a huge SUV, not caring about the environment...he stressed how he doesn't care that his car is a gas guzzler.

He also mentioned that he recently went thru a divorce and bankruptcy.

It was always a mystery to me how his band had so many hits, but could never play huge venues....a good sign that no one really took the band too seriously.......same goes for Smashmouth, Third Eye Blind and Sugar ray, and, to a lesser extent , the goo goo dolls.

Perhaps it was the fact that they did too many soundtracks/commercials too early in their careers.

Best to save that stuff for later, and not always go for the fast money right away.

Indian Summer

Everclear used to be a great live band, especially if you caught them in a smaller venue. But Craig made the live shows...that guy was crazed.

facepollution

Sparkle and Fade is still one of my favourite albums, but that new song is pretty shit. When Art is being serious he really does have a way of telling stories, but when he's trying to be quirky it just sounds stupid. Write some REAL music again Art!!!

jerve5150

The new album leaked last week. I haven't fully absorbed it yet. It's pretty good. They're not breaking any new ground. Basically where Slow Motion Daydream left off only softer. Good background music, there were only 1-2 songs that I couldn't stand and had to fast forward. I really like the song, "Glorious." I saw them about 5 years ago, they headlined and there were 7,000 people there and they played for 2 1/2 hours, I'm pretty sure they hadn't headlined a show that big in a long time and haven't headlined a show that big since then. It was a concert too, it wasn't a free Ribfest or mulitiple band festival like they're doing now. I'm glad Art's still around.

Jammin909

JOEJOEJOE wrote:

Art A. was on the steve jones show on Indie 103.1......he was a prick...he mentioned how he drives around in a huge SUV, not caring about the environment...he stressed how he doesn't care that his car is a gas guzzler.

He also mentioned that he recently went thru a divorce and bankruptcy.

It was always a mystery to me how his band had so many hits, but could never play huge venues....a good sign that no one really took the band too seriously.......same goes for Smashmouth, Third Eye Blind and Sugar ray, and, to a lesser extent , the goo goo dolls.

Perhaps it was the fact that they did too many soundtracks/commercials too early in their careers.

Best to save that stuff for later, and not alwaysasing a new album once go for the fast money right away.

I think Third Eye Blind's biggest problem is that they have only released 2 albums in the past 9 years. You are never going to build up a solid fanbase like that.

Kricket

"Everclear" just open here for Collective Soul and tix were $15. I never liked Everclear anyways but you'd think that they woulda made a lot of $$ back in the day.

bladworth116

With his pop sensibilities Art always struck me as the kind of guy who is smarter than Everclear's music reflects. I've never gotten into them because I don't think the guy is ever genuine, he's so sarcastic and everthing is oh so cleverly tongue in cheek. I've found people who have outlooks on life like that are usually have miserable personal lives

SVRDhand13

their new song "hater" is an absolute disgrace to rock and roll. i gagged the first time i heard it.

kenny olav

Their debut record, World of Noise, was pretty good. Sparkle and Fade was a great album. And then... they became worse than the Goo Goo Dolls. Pretty shocking that success can do that.

red mos

Jammin909 wrote:

I think Third Eye Blind's biggest problem is that they have only released 2 albums in the past 9 years. You are never going to build up a solid fanbase like that.

Well that's part of the problem. I saw these guys in their hayday back in 1998 and it was a fucking fantastic show. I saw them headline our buzzfestival radio show in Houston in 2000 and they Sucked ass! It's true that their third album flopped, and they kicked their lead guitarist Kevin out of the band and replaced him with Tony (can't remember his last name) but to me, Tony's guitar playing is one factor that hurt the band. He is just not third eye blind material, his sound just didn't fit. The band was not as solid as they were the first time when I saw them with Eve 6. Then again, it may have also been due to the fact that the moshpits at Buzzfest that year were so bad (lots of people got hurt, ambulances taking people left and right to the hospital) that the fact they had to calm the crowd down, may have put a damper on the show. My friend actual saw them a third time, at the races and said they sucked and he left 5 songs in, so who knows.
But yes, it seems that Everclear, 3EB, sugar ray ect are bands that just lost their spark.

adam42381

I liked World of Noise and loved both Sparkle and Fade and So Much For The Afterglow. They had a couple good songs on the first Songs From An American Movie. The second one was terrible IMO. I didn't even bother picking up Slow Motion Daydream. Everclear isn't Everclear anymore. Art has lost it and seems to be a bit of an ass. They are done. Sad since Santa Monica was my favorite song when I was in high school.

On a side note, I also thought that Third Eye Blind's debut album is one of the strongest debuts ever. Top to bottom, every song is good. Blue was just okay for me. Out of the vein just didn't do it for me. I guess there's something to be said about frontmen who are asses runing their bands.

Soldier Of Love 44

Their new cd is coming out this week. I saw the group live a couple weeks ago, and they are actually better than the "old" everclear...

red mos

Really? How do the older songs sound like Santa Monica, Father of mine, Strawberry girl ect. I didn't really want to see them as this new group, I liked them as a trio, but you have me interested.

South of Seattle

Growing up in Portland I remember going to Everclear shows all the time during the 'World of Noise' and early 'Sparkle and Fade' era. They we hungry back then. From everything that I'd ever heard about Art is that he is super controlling and a dick. He's an old dude that didn't think he'd have time to make it big and he went for it. He writes great songs but it's just not as sincere as it used to be. Art's broke but I'm sure Craig & Greg are doing fine. Greg's playing guitar for The Oohlas' and their album comes out on Sept. 26th. Greg was actually my friend's brother's roommate in College. There is a song on the new Oohlas' record 'Charbonneau' that is the same as my friend's last name, I wonder if it's about his older brother?

soulsinging

Jammin909 wrote:

I think Third Eye Blind's biggest problem is that they have only released 2 albums in the past 9 years. You are never going to build up a solid fanbase like that.

yeah, what ever happened to those guys?

red mos

soulsinging wrote:

yeah, what ever happened to those guys?

They released a third album, called into the vein in 2003 and it flopped big time. No radio promotion, It seems like the record company is doing to them what Interscope did to the Toadies. Looking for a fast money maker, and then leaving them out in the cold after a string of hits. I have seen third eye Blind twice. The first time was the Bonfire tour with Eve 6. An awesome show. These guys had so much energy, and the crowd was a bit rough, but it was fun. They Headlined Houston's annual Buzzfest 2000 and that day was pure mayhem. I watched/ was involved in one of the most violent pits ever. I watched 8 or 9 people go to the hospital, one get arrested, and a collar bone get shattered; the crowd just got crazy during the flys set and it went on through Tonic (If you can believe it), and Lit. Third eye Blind took the stage with new guitarist Toni???? something and Stephen preceeded to calm the crowd down by making everyone move down and close the mosh pit gap. He then said turn to your neighbor and say hello to them." We can do this guys." "People have been seriously injured today, and that's not what this is about". This performance I thought was weak, in part because of the crowds behavior, but mostly because Stephens vocals were strained, and Toni's guitar playing does not fit the band... sorry but you can tell, if you ever saw them with Kevin before he was fired. My frind saw them at Sam Houston race park again, and said they blew worse then buzzfest. I guess some bands just lose it, after awhile. I have no idea what they are doing now. I saw an MTV cribs with Stephen but that's it. No new news of a record or anything.

Soldier Of Love 44

red mos wrote:

Really? How do the older songs sound like Santa Monica, Father of mine, Strawberry girl ect. I didn't really want to see them as this new group, I liked them as a trio, but you have me interested.

No joke, I think the new Everclear is better than the old group. I saw Everclear play tons of times back when Greg and Craig were in the band. The new group sounds a lot better live. The older songs that they played sounded great, and they played a couple new songs which were pretty good. I would highly recommend seeing the new group on their tour...if they come near you. Theres a great everclear fansite, http://www.hungryandhollow.com which seems to have a lot of good stuff...