One of the most underrated singer/songwriter/guitarists from the Nineties despite his career going back to the mid Eighties. It took a nasty divorce to make his third album Girlfriend (originally titled Nothing Lasts) to be the breakout Sweet’s career needed. Still a favorite with “Evangeline,” “Looking at the Sun,” and “I Wanted to Tell You.”
Every album which has followed has been great, including the side projects/bands he has been in, especially the three sets of covers Matthew has done with good friend Susanna Hoffs. I respect their choices for the Eighties (aka Volume Three) having a wide variety, namely a Lindsey Buckingham tune I remembered fondly.
What pisses me off is how he never found the level of success I felt he truly deserved. He’s an incredible songwriter who demonstrates how well-versed he is with Power Pop and you can find him on numerous tributes. From the Kinks to Big Star to Saturday-morning cartoons to Paul McCartney & Wings. I guess he needed to have a drug addiction to achieved the same level of reverence lesser talents of his generation received, namely the overrated Kurt Cobain.
Oh well, the upside was getting to see him perform live six times in nice, small venues, although he hasn’t visited Austin since 2006; I’m pretty confident of this, I pay attention to tour sites and other media. Tucked away in my house is an autographed poster from his 2000 performance of In Reverse as a reminder of meeting him in person. I need to post a picture of it.