This was another classic entry for Chartburn – loved the roundtable Cronin discussion, and also the Cetera stuff – one of my favorite tracks, btw. I have sinned, and I continue to do so!

And, as it happens, I’m a big Toad fan….and the singles discussion above in relation to the overall albums, is probably why their retrospective is so damn good. They had a knack for good catchy tunes that might not have translated fully with all of their albums, but a listen to the retrospective leaves one to conclude that they did alright.

It’s been 16 years, and I still never want to hear “End of the Road” again.

I don’t blame BIIM for the rise in melisma in R&B vocalists. Whitney blazed that trail five years before, and guys like Johnny Gill were already over-singing (although, granted, he has the pipes to oversing!!) before BIIM put out a record. Actually, if I were to blame any male artist for tirelessly promoting oversinging, it would be Stevie Wonder, who spawned Charlie Wilson, who spawned Aaron Hall, who collectively spawned just about every other 90s male R&B singer.

At any rate, as a member of the class of ‘93 (and someone who lost a close relative in the summer of ‘92), I’ve heard “End of the Road” way too many times to ever need or want to hear it again.

As for Toad, I love their mopey music because, well, I was a mopey teen when they were popular. “Fear” and “Dulcinea” are both very strong albums, and Glen Phillips made one really excellent solo album, “Winter Pays for Summer”. The other two solo records made it right back to the used CD shop in record time, although the more recent one has a pretty cool cover of “I Want a New Drug”.

I really wish Stan Ridgway would do a cover of that REO song.

Dave, you are dead on about the “grunge” in Psycho Circus.

The song was a leftover from the “Carnival of Souls” album that was with the “new” lineup sans makeup. (Gene, Paul, Bruce Kulick, Eric Singer)The album was a blatent attempt at grunge.

And that Glen Phillips rider story = awesome.

True Kevin Cronin story: Early 90s, summer festival, nowhere town in Iowa, REO is the headliner. I am the local DJ who is backstage before the show. In full view of everybody, Cronin goes off on his road manager, a full-on screeching fit: “If you don’t get me the right brand of bottled water, man, I am fuckin’ out of here.” I am pretty sure that in those days, the only sort of bottled water you could get in that little Iowa town was those big jugs that went in office water coolers. The road manager ended up calming Cronin down, and the show went on. In the spring of ‘07, Cronin did an appearance at my current station. He’s mellowed a lot.