Edc

It is difficult to separate a lot of the music that came out of "grunge" from its era in time. Yet some of it is timeless. Satchel's first album, EDC, is timeless.At this point, it is not even easy to say what grunge is, or was. Some sort of combination of punk, metal, different time signatures, different keys, and so forth. Some of the most popular grunge never appealed to me at all, and even some of the better early grunge can easily sound dated. How much of that is the extent to which it was copied and warped, who can say? Nevertheless, I think that the best of the movement was actually the side projects, and the minor albums. Mad Season. Brad.Satchel.Brad and Satchel were quite different, despite Shawn Smith, and appealing in distinct ways, but EDC stands on its own decades later. None of the trappings of overly simplistic punk. None of the bombast of metal. Instead, just a hint of the funk/R&B that came out of LA's... I hate to say "alternative" scene, but the movement that produced bands like Jane's Addiction, along with the compositional sophistication that came from some of the more ambitious New York rock bands, with just enough of the grunge aesthetic to keep Satchel vaguely categorized within that movement. That combination keeps the sound so unique that Satchel doesn't sound at all dated because it doesn't really sound like part of the grunge scene at all.With Smith's voice, rather than the stereotypical grunge vocal approach, it was always going to sound different anyway. There's that R&B thing, giving Satchel part of its uniqueness. Smith matched his voice to different aesthetics in different projects, but the mix was particularly appealing here because of the contrast between the sweet soul of his voice and the crunch of the guitar. Yet without the kinds of basic, conventional grunge chord progressions dominating everything, it still stands out as something that you don't think of as just a companion piece to Ten or Badmotorfinger or something like that.Grunge basically went away, and so much of it is just dated. EDC, though, stands the test of time. It still warrants attention in ways that the popular stuff perhaps doesn't, except as historical pieces. Yes, I do think that the best of the movement, such as it was, came from the side projects.

Working in a record Store in 1995 we received a lot of promos on a daily basis and the owner allowed me to take them all home. The first time I gave this a spin I was like WOAH!!! there's something about this that has my full attention. This material is not Grunge, Funk, Hard Rock, Trash Jazz, Ballads etc.. it's all that combined and more and perfected like a fine piece of art. Shawn Smith's vocal style changes throughout this disc from soulful to powerful on "Taste It" and a little funky on the Hip Hopish/Ballad "Trouble Comes Down" in a style that reminds me of the late Marvin Gaye and then we have "More Ways Than 3" which has a Grunge/Psychedelic sound and then the first stand out for me "Hollywood" that has a slow, sad, haunting creepy sound about the "Darkside of Hollywood" and I swear Shawn's vocal style on this one reminds me of the late Andrew Wood. "O" switches to a funky jazz style. and then there's "Mr. Pink" one of my favorite tracks on this disc that is always turned up LOUD when in rotation. The others tracks on this disc with the exception of the last "Suffering" are really "Filler" of Funk/Metal/Soul for me however still very enjoyable.Recently when I went to replace my worn out copy I was surprised to find how difficult it was to find another CD and especially a new one. This album is very underrated in my opinion, and one I consider a 'Classic" in my large collection and full of variety. I would love to see a deluxe edition one day.I never understood the "Reservoir Dogs" connection though???

Killer album for the Seattle sound. Right next to the first Brad album- two forgotten classickz.

Being a HUGE Brad and Shawn Smith fan, I was delighted at the quality of Shawn's older work. Every song is good. It's Seattle easy listening.

Epic disc. RIP Shawn Smith.

👍👍👍👍👍👍

AAA

five gold stars

Great singer.

Yet another band Shawn Smith is involved with, this guy has one of those voices & writing talents that's been hidden for so long, listen to anything that he's involved with & his passion shines through

Great album by a great band!