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These Californians set out to be their generation's ultimate party band -- for the kinds of parties that don't exclude the kids and the old folks -- and as this 15-song retrospective proves, they succeeded remarkably well. Mark McGrath's affable blend of goofiness and non-threatening sex appeal -- combined with his malleable tenor -- is largely responsible for that pull, but his bandmates carry their weight by bringing an easygoing shuffle to just about everything they touch. That mellow sunniness made songs like "Fly" and "Every Morning" ubiquitous on the radio, much like lite-rock forebears such as the Association or the Mamas and Papas managed a generation before. Interestingly, the collection reaches back to the band's largely overlooked first album, which boasted a considerably rougher, funk-tinged sound, dusting off the peripatetic "Mean Machine" and the less-than-believable street-cred attempt of "Rhyme Stealer." Once they settled into their groove and lightened up (both sonically and psychically), however, times got much groovier -- as evidenced by their ability to pull off covers of songs like Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" and Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time."
CONDITION : USED LIKE NEW! PROMOTIONAL IMPRINT ON THE BOOKLET!
TRACK LISTINGS
1 Shot of Laughter previously unreleased
2 Answer the Phone
3 Fly
4 Someday
5 Under the Sun
6 Every Morning
7 Mean Machine
8 Falls Apart
9 Time After Time previously unreleased
10 Rhyme Stealer
11 When It's Over
12 Rpm
13 Is She Really Going Out With Him?
14 Psychedelic Bee previously unreleased
15 Chasin' You Around
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