Sloan - A Sides Win: Singles
1992-2005
(Koch)
I´ve always been a casual Sloan fan. Even when I was mainly listening to
death metal, I had a soft spot for the boys from Halifax whenever one of their
videos would pop up (and they popped up regularly) on MuchMusic. When I started
actually buying their albums though, I was less than impressed. Not one of their
albums stayed in my player for very long. I´d skip tracks to get to the singles,
and eventually, they´d end up sold or left to collect dust on the shelf. Over
time, the number of solid tracks grew smaller and smaller and I just stopped
paying attention to their new material. Even when this best-of collection hit
stores, I wasn´t eager to pick it up. I figured I was over them. Eventually I
had some extra dough burning a hole in my pocket and I caved and bought the
cheaper single disc edition. It was a good decision.
“A Sides Win” make Sloan look like a much better band than they are, and will
leave newcomers scatching their heads at why they´re not that big anymore. What
impresses me is that unlike a lot of ´best of´ and ´greatest hits´ collections
that have come out as of late, this one is pretty much definitive, without any
bizarre choices thrown in because of ego. Like a lot of collections though, it
does have a few new songs thrown on for the few remaining diehards out there
who´ll pick it up. Luckily they´re adequate. It´s arranged in chronological
order which seems to be another thing that?s been forgotten for ´best of´
collections.
As much as whittling down the latter day material into just one or two songs
per album succeeds at hiding how they´ve fallen, the best material really is the
early stuff. Whether its “Underwhelmed” and “500 Up”, or material from their
peak of success, such as “The Good in Everyone” and “Everything You´ve Done
Wrong”, the music from this period felt more natural than the riff rock of new
track “All Used Up” or even “Motor City Maniacs”. My favorite Sloan song, “Coax
Me” is also on here. I love it specifically because of one line - something that
sticks with me everytime I see a band´s massive success cause a backlash from
critics: “It´s not the band I hate, it´s their fans”. —
Goon