Search - Velvet Crush :: Heavy Changes

A worthy follow-up ...

Mike Montgomery | Iowa | 07/31/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"... to 1994's stellar "Teenage Symphonies to God," Velvet Crush's "Heavy Changes" was recorded in North Carolina in 1995. "Used To Believe" and "Ever After" are hard-rocking standouts, picking up on the formula from "Teenage ..." only with more extended jamming; producer Mitch Easter is again on hand to mix and play guitar. "White Satin Bed" is in the same mold as "Why Not Your Baby," a weepy country chestnut played with a syncopated Manchester drum lick. The band had high hopes for the disc but their label, Creation/Epic, didn't agree. Disappointed with sales to "Teenage ..." in the U.S. and unable to "find a single" out of the tracks on "Heavy," Creation/Epic rejected the album in 1996 and then dropped the band altogether. The tapes were shelved but later obtained by the band and released on their own label, Action Musik, in 1998. NOTE: Ric Menck disbanded the group sho! rtly after the band was dropped by Creation and moved to Los Angeles. Menck re-formed VC for a new album in 1998 with just bassist/lead vocalist Paul Chastain and VC chum Matthew Sweet, who is also producing."