Even at the height of their career, Candlebox was a joke. Their sound, something akin to watered down grunge, came together just enough to allow for a hit or two from the band’s 1993 self-titled debut. But after the destruction of grunge, little room was left for the forgettable act.
In reality, there was nothing specifically wrong with those one or two hits (You and Far Behind), but the rest of the album lacked the spark that would successfully carry the rock band through the trials and tribulations common on a sophomore effort. So, the fact that 1995’s Lucy failed on the charts and didn’t so much as have one moderate hit wasn’t much of a shock to listeners and critics. As quickly as Candlebox had arrived on the scene, they became forgotten fodder for VH1 specials. And, believe it or not, Candlebox even released one subsequent album. 1998’s Happy Pills was somehow less widely appreciated than Lucy.
Throughout much of their recording career, Candlebox consisted of the four founding members. Kevin Martin (vocals), Peter Klett (guitar), Scott Mercado (drums) and Bardi Martin (bass) all helped to write the songs and thusly set them to recycled and easily forgettable rock that bordered on blues but leaned more toward the early 1990’s Seattle sound. Unfortunately, the foursome did little to further the sub-genre that died soon after their debut release. To make matters worse, they tried to continue in the same vein with Lucy. The major qualm listeners should have with Lucy is that it lacks cohesiveness, timelessness, and a discernable interesting melody. They took themselves too seriously and tried much too hard to invent an exploitable muse. The attempt was a painful reminder of a typical one-hit-wonder career.
Even the lead-off Simple Lessons is troublesome. While representing the pitiful best of Lucy, the track manages to sound like a regurgitated Far Behind. Candlebox does indeed have some amount of talent hidden beneath these layers of unfortunately pointless melodies and trite lyrics. Something caught the attention of listening audiences on the first release…that “something” is now completely MIA. Simple Lessons is an average although utterly unremarkable track.
As Lucy continues it gets worse. Drowned portrays Candlebox as a band trying in vain to be somebody else. Singer Kevin Martin attempts to channel the southern blues-rock spirit of Chris Robinson (Black Crowes). While it’s a valiant effort, there is a problem…the rest of the band just can’t keep up. And no band can consist of a lone vocalist.
Lucy is a pitiful excuse for a title track. Strangely paced, the song is totally devoid of emotion and anything of interest. This kind of mistake really leaves a bad taste in any listener’s mouth. But the fact that nothing more of any worth can be mentioned about the remaining nine tracks is a gigantic concern. Sounding like one big, decently produced musical cliché it’s difficult to find any positive things among the numerous minuses.
Kevin Martin’s vocals are consistently good. Sure he’s no master song man, but his not-quite unique cross between Ed Kowalczyk (Live) and the aforementioned Robinson is admirable. The remaining three contributors offer up overall pretty lackluster performances. The blandly boring pacing of songs ranging from Begin (To Tell) and Understand through Vulgar Before Me and It’s Amazing wound Lucy beyond repair. And I can’t forget to mention the totally unnecessary recording of Butterfly and, even worse, the deplorable ending reprise.
There must have been a few die-hard Candlebox fans out there when this album hit shelves in 1995. It is extremely hard to imagine that any could outlast the pain inflicted by this almost never interesting album. Lucy is impossible to recommend despite the occasional average vocalization from Martin and the average opener Simple Lessons. It’s just a sad excuse for an album.
Rating: 2/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Simple Lessons
02. Drowned
03. Lucy
04. Best Friend
05. Become (To Tell)
06. Understand
07. Crooked Halo
08. Bothered
09. Butterfly
10. It’s Amazing
11. Vulgar Before Me
12. Butterfly (reprise) Why in hell is there a reprise of this CRAP?
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