Toad the Wet Sprocket Albums (6)
'Welcome Home: Live at the Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara 1992'
Release Date 1/11/2005
Tracks 19
Label Columbia/Legacy
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
On September 30, 1992, Toad the Wet Sprocket played the Arlington Theater in their hometown of Santa Barbara, just at the point at which they were breaking through to national stardom. Twelve years later, this archival document of their performance appeared, the four band members augmented on-stage by keyboardist Bruce Winter. It offers what followers of the band would expect: a tight set of 19 tunes, almost all of them drawn from their early albums, signifying their position among the most popular bands treading the interface between R.E.M.-influenced alternative rock and the mainstream. Renditions of all of their early hits are here, including "Walk on the Ocean," "All I Want," "Come Back Down," "One Little Girl," and "Fall Down." It's short, however, on the repertoire oddities that some collectors value in live albums -- even "Brother," which was initially buried on the So I Married an Axe Murderer soundtrack, came out on the rarities collection In Light Syrup, though "Fall Down" was a ways off from being released at the time it was played in concert here. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Toad the Wet Sprocket illustrate that their ability to craft gentle, alternative folk-rock in the vein of R.E.M. continues to grow on Coil, a marginally darker record than the previous Dulcinea. Although the album is a little more somber, it is far from haunting, since Toad's talent is for pleasant, lightly melodic acoustic pop, and Coil is no different from the rest of their catalog in that respect. In fact, it offers little new, but Toad are more reliable than predictable, since the record is quite well crafted. While it won't win the group any new fans, it's a solid effort that will certainly please fans. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
From the platform of success built by Fear, Toad the Wet Sprocket dove head first into their fourth release, Dulcinea. Without changing the formula too much, they conjured up 12 more hooks, stretching them ever so slightly to make the alternative tunes a bit edgier and the mellow ones a little folkier, and scoring a couple of modest hits along the way with "Something's Always Wrong" and "Fall Down." One of the thematic threads of Toad's music has always been a certain spirituality, a sense of awe and wonder in regard to life and death. Dulcinea exploits and explores that theme with reverence and humility, going so far as to close the album with "Reincarnation Song," a delicate examination of a soul's transition shrouded musically by a veil of electric guitar feedback. Counteracting that heaviness with an offbeat, country-tinged ditty about the pros of Nanci Griffith versus Loretta Lynn is pure Toad, never being pinned into a stylistic corner. One of the best songs on this album, and perhaps their entire catalog, is "Windmills," a moody look at the fragility and futility of existence that will cause not only the exquisite melody to linger with you, but contemplations of your own purpose in life. Framed by the flawless production of Gavin MacKillop, every song on this record creates a world of its own that is impossible not to be drawn into. ~ Kelly McCartney, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Not only did Fear yield the Top 40 breakthrough hit "All I Want," but it also marked the emergence of a more refined Toad the Wet Sprocket. A far cry from their jangle pop, garage band sound of old, this album is full of smart and catchy pop/rock songs brought to life by four great musicians. Be it a tale of boyhood mischief ("Is It for Me") or a question of faith ("Pray Your Gods"), Glen Phillips shows himself to be one of the most literate and complex singer/songwriters around, layers of hidden subtext pouring from both his pen and voice. In fact, one of the finest lines ever found in a fare-thee-well song appears in "In My Ear": "Never meant half of the things that I said to you. So you know, there's a half that might be true." Enough said. The rest of the quartet -- drummer Randy Guss, bassist/keyboardist Dean Dinning, and guitarist Todd Nichols -- have merged together musically, defining what it really means to be a band. Their juxtaposition of accordions and mandolins against hard-hitting electric guitars amplifies the blend of ease and urgency that plays out from song to song, from the acoustic meandering of "Walk on the Ocean" to the aggressive commentary on rape in "Hold Her Down." The last tune, "I Will Not Take These Things for Granted," could have easily fallen into the abyss of cliché, but in Phillips' hands, it stands as a humble and poignant tribute to life's riches. With not a single weak song, wonderfully engaging performances, and amazing sonic precision, Fear is a wonderful welcome into the house of Toad. ~ Kelly McCartney, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
As with the band's debut, Bread & Circus, Toad the Wet Sprocket's Pale was recorded virtually live in the studio, a tactic the band would sadly abandon to varying degrees with each future album. Pale's leaden-hued production, supervised by ex-Lone Justice bassist Marvin Etzioni, imbues these songs with a welcome sense of space that gracefully separates each instrument without rendering a cold, stark sound. The piano-guitar interplay on "High on a Riverbed" is a gentle sea-swept gust, while the first nine bars of the jet black-humored "Corporal Brown" are some of the most organically textured electric guitar this side of R.E.M.'s original "Radio Free Europe." Singer Glen Phillips' voice is still charmingly undeveloped at this stage (he was 18 at the time), and the bandmembers exude a restraint and sagacity that belies their relative youth. "I Think About," for example, probes the value of absorbing life experience despite fleeting time, a subject most artists don't broach until they're two decades into a career. The beautifully sullen opener, "Torn," with its creaking-door intro, takes a different tack on the calendar of life as Phillips sings, "Please don't touch me/Love like an infant trying to stand up." It's a watershed moment on the album, and it arrives less than a minute in. It's been said that an aversion to joy is crucial in the development of strong rock songwriting -- otherwise, weak and weightless material often results. Bread & Circus abides by this axiom obediently to mostly stellar results; Pale, however, embraces the notion without reservation, and the improvement between the pair of albums is remarkable. Its exquisite songs mope without wallowing, avoiding the few teen angst clichés that pockmark its predecessor. Pale is early Toad at its old-soul peak. ~ Charles Hodgkins, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This is the first taste of Toad the Wet Sprocket's brand of California-flavored thinking man's pop. Bread and Circus is a collection of songs Toad had worked up over two years of playing the Santa Monica club circuit, and the album doesn't have the cohesive flow the band would find with later releases like Pale and Fear, but the songs are good from the get-go. "When We Recovered" and "One Little Girl" show two emotional sides to the band's songwriting, and the superb "Know Me" portends Toad's future efforts in one track -- plaintive acoustic strumming, acerbic minor-key angst, and a soaring, defiant chorus. ~ Troy Carpenter, All Music Guide
