Across the Barrier of Sound: Postscript

Any fan who bought the 1990 career retrospective knows that formed a fresh edition of the band after the lineup that recorded 1988's fell apart, even recording new versions of two early tracks for the collection. However, what happened after that has been a mystery to most followers of and his music; little evidence of the activities of the last days of surfaced, and none seemed forthcoming. That abruptly changed with the 2020 release of , an anthology that brings together studio recordings, demos, and live tracks from the 1989-1990 version of , with joined by , who previously played drums with , on guitar and keyboards; , who worked with in his pre- group , on drums; and , formerly of , on bass. (The LP release features 14 songs, with ten more added on digital editions.) Only three of these tracks -- "Treat It Like My Own," "Rose of Sharon," and "Water" -- have been previously released, and those only on cassettes handed out to members of the fan club. There are full-bodied studio takes of "My Free Ride," "Idiot Son," and "Inverness" here, but most of this material is drawn from demos recorded at home. The full-band recordings are the work of a leaner, more concise , with far less reliance on keyboards and punchier, more straightforward drumming, especially on the live recording of "The Door Into Summer" (which jokingly introduces as a song by , while patiently tells the crowd it was actually by ). As for the demos, many of the songs will be familiar to fans of 's later project, , as he repurposed most of them for their debut album, 1992's . 's home-brewed recordings may lack the power of the arrangements, but his songs appear fully formed, and even if the lyrics changed on a few of these songs, the rough drafts capture the magic of his melodies and the excellence of his guitar work with true eloquence. And it speaks to 's distinct vision that the three songs co-written with have a noticeably different personality, not necessarily jarring but clearly different from the others; while never shy about citing his influences, really didn't sound much like his peers. was assembled from scraps and cast-offs, but it coheres almost as well as one of 's proper albums, and this music is a joyous yet powerful reminder of how much we lost when died in 2013. If you ever enjoyed his work, you'll revel in this. ~ Mark Deming