::ITEM CONDITION:: Used. Disc one has a light mark that does not affect play; disc two has no marks. Jewel case has moderate wear.
::DESCRIPTION:: Ah, Scott "Wino" Weinrich. Can he do any wrong? Well, taking a quick look at his impressive repertoire, it would be quite a claim to say he hasn't released anything worthwhile. Fronting acts that include the legendary Saint Vitus, the pioneering 70's doom outfit The Obsessed, the new all-star band Shrinebuilder and many other respected musical ensembles, he has built himself quite a large body of work and a cult following to boot; however, I can't help but feel that his--debatably--greatest project has been overlooked. This project is Spirit Caravan.
With only two full lengths and one EP in their brief existence, one may think that a best of compilation is somewhat useless and merely a cash grab. After all, you can just buy the two releases and get all of the songs instead of some random highlights put together, although the price may be a bit higher. Then why is The Last Embrace such a great deal? Well, the compilation includes every song on both The Jug Fulla Sun and Elusive Truth full lengths, and it also includes three excellent bonus tracks previously unreleased by the band; all in a two-disc case for about twenty dollars. Quite a deal, no? It's especially conveniant considering that the Jug Fulla Sun album is nearly impossible to acquire without shelling out fifty bucks. The only complaints I have about this compilation is one, it does not include the Dreamwheel EP and two, it does not have the original Jug Fulla Sun recordings for the songs Courage, Powertime and Lost Sun Dance, and instead, uses a 7" version with a less than steller production job compared to the Jug Fulla Sun versions; It just would've been nice if they included both versions of the songs instead of only these lesser versions.
Aside from those two minor negatives, there is virtually nothing to complain about with this release. As mentioned before, it includes their two full lengths-- Jug Fulla Sun and Elusive Truth-- and three previously unreleased tracks. The music on the two full lengths actually differ substantially. Jug Fulla Sun has more of a hard rock meets doom sound that is a bit more lighthearted and catchy than its counterpart Elusive Truth. The aforementioned Elusive Truth tends to have a much heavier doom tone and more songs that have a slowed down tempo; Wino even experiments with harsh vocals on Undone Mind and Retroman and, in a way, sounds a bit like High on Fire's Matt Pike. However, the music is just as catchy and the riffs are just as memorable as the songs with cleaner vocals.
Apart from those differences, there are many recurring themes on the two full lengths. For instance, the lyrics on both releases deal mostly with spirituallity, the beauty of our natural world, and politics --every theme delivered with excellent penmanship from Wino. The songs are mostly structured around the guitar riffs and vocals of Wino. And there is a good deal of diversity between the songs in both albums; ranging from driving, fast-paced rockers (Kill Ugly Naked, Healing Tongue, Lifer City) to mid paced, southern-tinged ballads (The Last Embrace, No Hope Goat Farm) and slowed down stoner hymns (Sea Legs, The Departure).
As always, the vocals and guitar work of Wino is great; they are very consistant throughout both discs, and as pointed out before, they are the main focus of the songs. Maybe too much focus actually. What I mean by that is, the bass is almost completely inaudible. Which, for a stoner metal album, is pretty strange. The drums, on the other hand, can be heard very well and are performed in a simplistic yet demanding manner. Besides the lack of bass guitar, I really don't have a problem with the production, and when listening to a song like Cosmic Artifact, I'm usually to busy being wowed by the great songwriting and riffs to care much about the production.
All in all, if you're a fan of stoner metal, I recommend this compilation to you. It is filled with great riffs, vocals and songwriting from Wino. Also, if you're looking to get into Spirit Caravan, look no further, for this is just for you. - Metal Archives