| Candlebox | 1993 |
| Lucy | 1995 |
| Happy Pills | 1998 |
Candlebox were a band that was often grouped with the "one-hit wonder" grunge acts from the 90s, but that's only part of the story. Emerging from Seattle in 1993 with their self-titled debut, the band played this style very convincingly with a bit of a bluesier feel thrown in, courtesy of underrated lead guitarist Peter Klett, and it featured two significant modern rock radio hits in "Far Behind" and "You", but afterwards Candlebox pretty much fell from the public eye with their "sophomore slump" album Lucy, which was in my opinion a more consistent, dark, and powerful release than before, but one that was trashed by fans and critics.
Their third album Happy Pills also faded away commercially, but was very much a creative leap for the band in terms of depth and emotion to the songwriting and a better vocal range from Kevin Martin, who had a fairly distinctive voice to begin with. The future of Candlebox is currently uncertain with the departure of their bassist and drummer.
--Nick Karn
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
This self titled debut put Candlebox right on the musical map along with the best of the area's bands for a relatively short time, which was unfortunate, because the songwriting here shows a lot of potential that was expanded on in future releases. From the beginning, though, there's one point that stands out -- Peter Klett's technically impressive and tasteful guitar work throughout. Singer Kevin Martin hasn't quite formed his talent to the fullest yet, as his vocal emphasis on certain sounds leave a bit to be desired, and make a few of the songs sound similar to each other. The first half, with the exception of the two singles "You" and "Far Behind" (which are very good but are more standard sounding and occasionally repetitive), also doesn't quite gel. "Don't You" is a decent but undistinguished opener, while "Change" and "No Sense" are a bit too long and don't generate too much excitement.
The second half, though, is where the chemistry and songwriting starts coming together up until the end of the album. With the solid riff and aggressive nature of the music and lyrics of "Arrow", the exceptional extended bluesy soloing of "Rain", and astonishing ballads in the last two tracks "Cover Me" (which first hints that the band's considerable knack for this type of song has already arrived) and "He Calls Home" (this one is about the plight of the homeless, and the pure emotion of the song perfectly conveys it), Candlebox offers convincing evidence that there are somewhat more than your average grunge band, and their creative output would get better from here.
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COMMENTS
Pretty mindless, sucky corporate rock if you ask me. My kid brother had this tape back when it came out and it turned my stomach--I'm not just stating a cliché here, mind you, but when I hear these songs on the radio they literally give me this slightly nauseated feeling, maybe more in the back of my throat than in my gut. But you get the picture.
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
An explosive, emotional, and raw improvement over the band's debut, Lucy was surprisingly ignored among the hard rock crowd, generating only one minor hit single, "Simple Lessons", a song that had a somewhat more stripped down "live feel" than the past hits, and is pretty representative of the rest of the album, which is probably what turned listeners off. Kevin Martin is beginning to find a more subdued and vulnerable vocal touch that will be displayed to a powerful effect on the next album, while instrumentally, the band also continues to improve and sounds more loose in their playing, with songs like "Drowned" having this extra edge and inspiration because of it (an aggressive chorus also highlights the song), and these qualities are most apparent in "Best Friend", a song that rocks out with intro and outro sections sounding like they came out of a studio jam session, which proves to be a good thing, as the in-your-face feel of the song, along with the soaring chorus, really makes it work, and it's one of the finest songs of their career.
Candlebox isn't content with just rocking out aggressively, though. The ballads here display an eerie, somber and unsettling atmosphere with nice ringing guitars. The title track and "Understanding" are probably the best examples of this, while the two songs titled "Butterfly" and "Butterfly (reprise)" (incidentally quite different from each other) are done with undeniable feeling and creativity in the overall mood of the lyrics, vocals, and backing music. The only time when Lucy feels a bit uninspiring is around the middle of the album in songs like "Bothered", which sound quite dull in comparison to album highlights and other melodic triumphs such as "Vulgar Before Me" and "It's Amazing". Nevertheless, this album is still worthwhile for anyone who enjoyed the debut and it's best moments are worthy of the aggressive and raw emotional power of grunge classics like Alice In Chains' Facelift and Pearl Jam's Vs.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Attempting to make something of a return from the poorly received Lucy, the overall Candlebox sound has changed quite a bit with Happy Pills. The grunge-like tendencies of their first two releases have almost completely been obscured by this point, as the band attempted to go for their own unique sound, and for the most part they succeed, especially in the opening half, where a few of the songs are nothing short of phenomenal and brilliantly performed. A lot of it is due to the emotional depth in Kevin Martin's vocals, where he's able to express hopelessness, anger and confusion better than ever before. At times he hardly even sounds like the same singer from past releases, which is more or less a good thing.
Happy Pills comes out of the gates with a bang in the slow buildup of the opener "10,000 Horses", which is a sort of average song taken to unbelievable heights by the band's performance, while the title track simply explodes with power, with an exceptional melody and a fiery edge. "Blinders" is a very nice acoustic song which leads into the masterpiece of the album, "It's Alright" (probably the finest song of their whole career) -- unparalleled heartbreak, a heaven-sent chorus and melody, and an unpredictably heavy middle section that adds so much to the depth of the song.
"A Stone's Throw Away" moves along at a nice pace with great guitar work and glimpses of the band in top form (although this time a heavier section disrupts the song's flow), while "So Real" adds a bit more dimension to an astonishing first half, although that power doesn't quite carry over to the next side. "Offerings" and "Step Back" are very mediocre, not too melodic and somewhat disappointing given what was heard earlier, while "Belmore Place" has potential to be a showcase for guitar greatness but never gets going.
Still, the supply of great songs hasn't been exhausted though -- "Sometimes" is another priceless acoustic ballad that holds its own with "It's Alright", and "Breakaway" is a great, upbeat driving song. The dark blues of "Look What You've Done" closes Happy Pills on a sort of unresolved, kind of unsatisfying note, but the greatest moments of this slightly inconsistent, but powerful, release hint that Candlebox could conceivably create an unstoppable rock classic in the future.
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