Matthew Sweet

Blue Sky On Mars

Shocked at the positive reviews this album has received

Review Score:

(4/10)
This is the most disappointing album I have ever purchased. Not just because it is bad (it is), but because it came at a time when Matthew Sweet was coming off an album with 2 great singles and he was finally getting played on MTV and the radio. I felt sure that if he followed up 100% Fun with another album of equal quality to his previous three, he would surely reach a new level of success. Alas, instead Matthew Sweet went off the deep end, and turned to gimmicks instead of quality songwriting and production values.

So, why is this album so bad? First, because it is too short. The songs feel undeveloped, and there are too few of them. Second, because of the production. It just doesn't sound good. It sounds very...cheesy. The guitars sound weak, and there are too many synthetic sounds. Sweet wanted this album to sound like the demo tapes he made in his own home, because his family and friends would tell him they liked the sound of the demo tapes more than his studio albums. I guess this just goes to show you that sometimes people are sometimes blinded by their close proximity. Thirdly, the songwriting just isn't what it used to be. Many of the songs are awkward and irritating.

On top of the general lack of quality of the music, the cd I purchased (when it first came out) had a glitch with the way the tracks were edited, so that each song would begin at the end of the previous track.

I was, and still am, a huge Matthew Sweet fan, but even I have to admit that BSoM was the beginning of the downhill trend in Sweet's career. There are a few good songs on it (literally two or three), but it really was a big gigantic missed opportunity for Matthew Sweet.

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