The Posies - Amazing Disgrace 2xLP

Omnivore (2018, Reissue)

Amazing Disgrace is the third Posies vinyl reissue that was released by Omnivore as part of their Pledge Music campaign.  It was the final one to arrive (which makes sense chronologically) and is also the Geffen album of theirs that I am least familiar with.  I've never actually owned this album previously and only really know the songs that were featured on the Dream All Day best of CD that I've had for about twenty years.  I don't really have a good reason as to why I've never bought it, I also don't have their first album Failure that they rereleased on vinyl a couple of years ago.  I should pick up that one too, eventually.

What I can say is that Amazing Disgrace is an incredible album.  The songs are just as strong as anything on Frosting On The Beater, though they hit me a little differently since I don't have the twenty years of nostalgia coloring the way I feel about everything.  One of the things that the Posies to better than almost anyone are the way Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow blend vocal harmonies into their fuzzy guitar rock.  I can't think of a band that is their equal when it comes to that and all you need to do is listen to opening track "Daily Mutalation" as proof.

From there, the songs that I seem to like the most are the ones I've heard before like "Throwaway" and "Ontario."  That said, I think it might be my preexisting familiarity with these that make them stand out, because everything on this album is pretty damn great.  I'm happy to finally have this whole album and on a nicely reissued double LP to boot.  It's probably time to track down Failure next.

The Posies - "Daily Mutilation":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Hc6JJGDa0

The Posies - "Throwaway":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgBLuEyu8e4

The Posies - "Everybody Is A Fucking Liar":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXpb_xX2n_0

The Posies - Frosting On The Beater 2xLP - Pink Vinyl

Omnivore (2018)

When I heard that The Posies were finally going to reissue their three Geffen era albums on vinyl, I was really excited.  While I was looking forward to picking them all up, I was especially eager to finally get my hand on Frosting On The Beater.  In addition to it being my favorite Posies album and by far the album of theirs that I'm most familiar with, it's also the release that frustrated me most from a record collector standpoint.

I would consistently see the original pressing of this album on eBay and Discogs for well over one hundred dollars.  And not only were they put for sale at that price, they actually sold for that much over and over again.  As much as I love the album, I just couldn't talk myself into dropping that kind of cash as I couldn't believe that it wouldn't be reissued eventually.  Luckily my patience paid off and I finally have this tremendous album in my collection.

"Solar Sister" is my favorite Posies song and may be one of the greatest guitar pop songs ever written.  The way the vocal harmonies hold the melody during the verse always drives me crazy and when the guitars crash into the chorus, you know that this song is something special.  While it's the obvious highlight of the album, Frosting On The Beater is wall to wall hits.  "Dream All Day," "Flavor of the Month," "20 Questions" and so many others just dazzle with their catchiness.

Like the Dear 23 reissue, this one is split up on two LPs at 45rpm.  While from an audiophile standpoint I know that's going to give you the best sound quality, I still can't help but complain a little about having to get up and flip the record every three songs or so.  I would personally prefer a single LP, but this pressing sounds so amazing, it's a very small complaint and I certainly wouldn't want to sacrifice any sound quality.  These are such great songs and I'm so happy to finally have them on vinyl.

The Posies - "Solar Sister":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMhK2enxy4g

The Posies - "20 Questions":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j52dXm_Is8c

The Posies - Dear 23 2xLP

Omnivore (2018, Reissue)

Dear 23 is the first of three Posies reissues that were sold via Pledge Music.  While it seems that you can still buy it essentially anywhere, I did throw down my cash at the very beginning for the reissue of this album, Frosting On The Beater and Amazing Disgrace.  So far only the first two have been released so we'll start with Dear 23 today.

Dear 23 isn't the Posies album I'm most familiar with.  I got interested in the band a little later than many and it was really Frosting On The Beater that I played on repeat over and over.  I did backtrack and picked up the CD of Dear 23, but I just never listened to it quite as much as the others.  Having a really nice vinyl reissue is just the kick in the ass that I needed to pay more attention to this album.  I'm glad I did as there are so many incredible songs.  The first half of the album in particular is pretty crazy with songs like "My Big Mouth," "Golden Blunders" and "Any Other Way."

The reissue sounds incredible and they've done that thing where the album is split over two LPs and is at 45rpm instead of 33 1/3.  I know there are audiophile and sound reasons to do this, and I certainly would never say to do anything to impede the sound quality of an album, but part of me does just wish it was a standard single LP.  It might just be a laziness issue as you have to get up to flip the record to accommodate four sides more often than you would for a single LP.  Then there's also the fact that 45rpm on my record player is being a little wonky lately and everything seems to be playing just a hair slow.  But really, my turntable servicing needs aren't the fault of the folks who put this record out and I'm glad they did their best to make it sound as great as it possibly could.

The Posies - "My Big Mouth":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAy9-sAgCZ0

The Posies - "Any Other Way":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZOaYFQWgAI