If you’ve been a reader of this site for some time now, you’ll
\nknow we throw the term “sophomore slump” around more than a
\nfootball team throws passes. The simple definition of this is the
\ndifficulty a band, especially one who had great success with their
\ndebut album, have living up to the pressure of maintaining that
\nsuccess with album number two. If I had a dollar for every band who
\nfell prey to the “sophomore slump,” I’d be a rich man.<\/p>\n
And then, there’s Tonic. After the surprising success they had
\nwith their debut album
\nLemon Parade<\/i> in 1997, Emerson Hart and crew had not only the
\nunenviable task of outdoing a disc with such hits as “If You Could
\nOnly See” and “Open Up Your Eyes,” but they were going to have to
\ndo it without superstar producer Jack Joseph Puig. No pressure,
\nnow, boys…<\/p>\n
The end result of this journey,
\nSugar<\/i>, looks at the “sophomore slump” and all the challenges
\nthe band faced, and laughs in their faces. Quite possibly, Tonic
\nhas produced an album even better than their debut release.<\/p>\n
The first thing that strikes me about
\nSugar<\/i> is that its overall sound is crisper – and, thinking
\nback,
\nLemon Parade<\/i> did sound a little muddied in comparison.
\nHaving the band produce this album turned out to be the best
\ndecision, as they know the best how their overall sound should
\nbe.<\/p>\n
What also stands out is that this album is much peppier
\nsounding. There aren’t nearly as many droning songs as there were
\non
\nLemon Parade<\/i>, and that insures that both the band’s and the
\nlistener’s energy levels will constantly be through the roof. The
\nonly thing I would call the band to task on, surprisingly, would be
\ntheir use of one particular obscenity. Watch your newspapers for
\nthe latest story about that one crackpot parent who supposedly
\ndoesn’t want to get certain albums banned, but gets Wal-Mart to
\nstop carrying them. I’m not against the word’s usage, but I
\nquestion whether it really was necessary.<\/p>\n
The first single, “You Wanted More,” reminded people watching
\nthe film
\nAmerican Pie<\/i> or listening to the soundtrack that the band
\nwas still alive and well. (A live EP, available only on the
\nInternet, did the same thing in 1998.) But while this track is
\nquite enjoyable, the true strength of
\nSugar<\/i> lies in what has to be the next single: “Waltz With
\nMe”. A lively song with a catchy beat and chorus, I will be very
\ndisappointed if this one doesn’t get people’s attention.<\/p>\n
Tracks like “Mean To Me” (which reminds me a little bit of “If
\nYou Could Only See”), “Top Falls Down,” “Queen” and the title track
\nall demonstrate that Tonic not only has grown as a band and as
\nsongwriters, but they can consistently deliver the goods. Frankly,
\nit’s good to see Tonic succeeding; where
\nLemon Parade<\/i> had wonderful moments but seemed to show
\nunfulfilled potential at times,
\nSugar<\/i> knocks down all those walls and leaves the listener
\nfeeling that the band indeed delivered the best album possible.<\/p>\n
While I’ll always have special feelings towards the radio hits
\nfrom
\nLemon Parade<\/i> (except for that version that drops a key after
\nthe intro), the entire album of
\nSugar<\/i> begs for repeat listens, and is an album you’ll
\nquickly get attached to. Although I’ve not been putting together a
\nlist of the best albums of 1999 in my head, if I were to do so now,<\/p>\n
Sugar<\/i> would be near the top – if not at the top – of my
\n“best of” list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5799],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-36352","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-tonic","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36352"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36352"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}