Search - Mew :: Triumph for Man

A Pricey Introduction

Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 06/04/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Guess this happens a lot. A band debuts with a CD that goes essentially nowhere but subsequent successes convince them (or their record company) that the time is right to capitalize on rising popularity by reissuing what few had the chance to hear the first time around. Tempt the fan with a slew of extra tracks and voila, the band has a real chance of making the till sing! Sometimes that tactic works and sometimes it backfires. I think that these days it works more often than not, so that releases of early, "rare" cuts, demos, and outtakes are becoming ever more widespread.

My first taste of Mew came with their third and fourth albums. I enjoy their brand of alt-pop, so I picked Triumph For Man up to get an earful of their beginnings. And even though this CD is not half as polished as some of their later work, there is much that is enjoyable.

My favorites among the songs that constituted the original release are Then I Run, She Came Home For Christmas, I Should Have Been A Tsin-tsi (for you), and finally Coffee Break which stylistically, is much different from the rest of the songs on the disc. On the second disc, I most enjoy Say You're Sorry, Web, Chinese Gun, and Wheels Over Me. Most will agree that the "studio snippets" could have been omitted as they add nothing useful to the listener's pleasure.

Though none of the aforementioned songs is particularly memorable, all are at least enjoyable. Triumph For Man gives the listener about an hour and a half of decent alt-pop and while it is a pricey introduction to Mew, it is one that gives the fan a chance to hear how the soaring, dreamy alt-pop Mew is known for now came to be."