Rarities & Remixes in Bloomington, MN

The obvious thing to say about
Point of Grace
's
Remixes & Rarities
is that it is a stopgap to tide the group's fans over until the release of their next new album, which will be the proper follow-up to 1998's
Steady On
. That said, the record has its pleasures. Its 15 tracks consist of four songs from each of the quartet's first two albums,
and
The Whole Truth
, four from the 1992 album they released under the name
Say So
, two from various artists compilations, and one from their video,
Life, Love & Other Mysteries: The Video Stories
. The eight selections from the earlier
PoG
albums have been remixed, which, as in dance music parlance, here means more than just taking a new swipe at the volume levels of the various tracks in a recording, and also includes extensive overdubs. The result is certainly a more produced sound, but not necessarily a better one. The real value for fans will come with the
songs, which show the singers in a less produced mode that better reveals their talents. ~ William Ruhlmann