"Best of" collections are always awkward affairs for fans, who are naturally never quite satisfied with the song selection. The situation is intensified for bands of only modest mainstream success, whose completist fans will likely comprise 90% of the album sales for such a compilation. In the Posies' case, the label that underpromoted their albums and eventually dropped them is almost certainly using this release as one last excuse to screw the band over, distilling their major label output to one album so they can later delete the band's three proper titles from the catalog with little fanfare.
That said, the Posies managed to take full advantage of one more opportunity to look back on the 10 years they gave to their label before they ran out of steam. Dream All Day is packed to nearly the maximum running time, offering a few songs from each of the band's DGC albums, and completely overlooking the indie- issued career bookends, Failure and Success. The record also contains several non-album tracks, along with some previously unreleased and otherwise hard- to-find material. The liner notes are lovingly detailed, complete with a chronology of the band's history and a ranting essay about how the Posies really "mean it," whatever that's worth. Of course, such backpatting is to be expected of a band that announced their breakup, then recorded one last album, did a few final tours, and released a live album. Maybe they have a bet running with Braid as to who can turn out the most posthumous material. (We're still waiting on that Never Has Come for Us: Best of Braid 1993-1999 three-disc anthology, guys.)
The collection kicks off, as did 1990's Dear 23, with "My Big Mouth," a snappy, smartass tune that comes and goes long enough to trap its hook in your head without coming close to wearing out its welcome. But while that album seems to be the preference of most critics and fans, its other tracks simply don't live up to the insistence and quick payoff of the opening track. Recorded by legendary British hitmaker John Leckie, Dear 23 sported that confused, muddled sound that permeated most early '90s rock before grunge hit big and gave producers an easy sound to latch onto. The hooks were there, but the acoustic-and-electric guitar strumming and glossy harmonies make it relatively toothless compared to the Posies later work. If only Leckie could have done for the Posies' second album what he did for Radiohead's.
By the time 1993's Frosting on the Beater came around, the aforementioned grunge thing, compounded with their vicinity to Seattle, had become an unavoidable direction. But instead of tossing out their pop smarts for more attitude, they settled for writing better songs and letting Gumball's Don Fleming add the necessary heaviness to the production. The result was a modest hit in this collection's title track, "Dream All Day." On "Solar Sister," Jon Auer unleashes one of the most jawdropping guitar solos of the period, perfectly locking in with the dynamic drums and bringing the song's already catchy melody to unexpected heights.
After a detour into "Going, Going, Gone," a fine contribution to the otherwise mediocre Reality Bites soundtrack, the compilation proceeds to short change the album that got the Posies dropped from DGC, 1996's Amazing Disgrace. The press for the record stubbornly insisted that it was the loud, raw work of a band fresh off their tour bus. The meager selections here follow suit, offering the crunching but still hummable singles "Please Return It" and "Ontario," as well as the band's absolute low- point, the wanton angst of "Everybody is a Fucking Liar."
Meanwhile, the whole of Amazing Disgrace is by far the most varied and interesting Posies album. The fanboy in me weeps for the grand "Song #1," the supremely rocking "Grant Hart," and the small, eloquent "The Certainty." At least Dream All Day does include "Throwaway," one of the strongest tunes in the Posies catalog, despite the song's uncharacteristically tuneless introductory guitar solo. Also salvaged is the outtake "Sad to be Aware," which sounds way too good to have been left off Disgrace in favor of filler like "Broken Record."
If Dream All Day indicates anything, it's that the Posies probably deserve a little better than the footnote status they've been granted in retrospect of their 10 years as an entity. While the elements that comprised their sound were not so unique in and of themselves, it's hard to think of many other bands of the past decade who combined smart, subtle lyrics with traditional pop/rock dynamics and pitch-perfect male harmonies. That's gotta count for something, eh?
