Released: 2004
Tracks: Down; Flowing; All Mixed Up; Amber; Come Original; Beautiful Disaster; Creatures (for a While); Do You Right; I’ll Be Here Awhile; You Wouldn’t Believe; Transistor; Don’t Stay Home; Homebrew; Beyond the Gray Sky; Love Song; How Do You Feel?; First Straw
Best tracks: Flowing, Come Original, Do You Right, Homebrew
Track to skip: Creatures
Back in the mid-90’s you couldn’t escape 311, esp. the mega-hit song, Down. I swear, if you were breathing in 1995 it was impossible to avoid hearing it. I was a freshman/sophomore in college in 1995 so it was impossible to get away from people who were huge 311 fans. Most of them seemed like huge douchebags (dudes with dyed blonde short hair), so it doesn’t surprise me that I refused to give the band an honest shot – I didn’t want to be associated with those people! Now, I don’t have to worry about being so judgmental and can listen to the songs on their own merits. It was actually my friend Brian who gave me a bunch of 311 songs on a compilation CD about 10 years ago that honestly turned me around to liking this band.
All that said, it’s still a bit much for me to listen to a full hour of 311. In small doses I really, really dig the band, but an hour of it gets old. Just my personal preference and I’m sure many others will disagree with me.
This album serves a great purpose in that if you’re a casual fan, this’ll be a great introduction for you. This album isn’t chronological which I usually don’t like in “best of” albums, but I think here it works in the band’s favor because everything sounds great all jumbled together. You don’t hear the progress, but that’s fine because they’ve been pretty consistent for the most part. On all of these songs, the production is great. You can hear everything perfectly clear and that’s what I love hearing in albums. I think on its own the remix of Homebrew works, but I still prefer the original version. Speaking of Homebrew, that’s a very cool song and the ending bit is absolutely the coolest thing the band’s ever done. That riff is insanely awesome and I wish it’d go on for a lot longer. It’s hard to pick a “best track” here, because I really love Homebrew, Do You Right (the two earliest songs), Come Original and Flowing. On Flowing I love the juxtaposition of the poppy harmonies with the heavy guitars underneath. I dig that Alice in Chains vibe on the verses of this as well. A nice addition to this collection is 311’s cover of The Cure’s Love Song. It’s a great version with the band putting their own stamp on it while keeping what was so great about the original.
I laughed that, of course, Down is the opening track on the album. It’s their biggest hit so naturally it’s going to come first. I still don’t love it (it was my most hated 311 song back in the day), but I really love the sound of the music on Down. Still, even 16 years later the vocals and words (from what I can understand) continue to annoy me. I don’t usually skip it, though. Honestly, the only track on here that really bored me was Creatures. The two new songs are average, but there are some cool bits here and there – the middle section of How Do You Feel is a great riff and I *love* the “Robert Fripp” style guitar bit in Last Straw. I do prefer the bands earliest work (the Grassroots & Music albums), but there’s no denying they continued to write cool songs as their career went on. I’d say if you like any of these songs, then go for it – you’ll find plenty to enjoy here.
Rating: 81
April 12, 2011, 
6:57 am
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