Product Description

It is often said that the quickest way for an artist to become famous is to die. The obvious flip-side of this is that the artist doesn't get to enjoy the fruits of his labours. On SECOND-HAND SMOKE, the surviving Sublime members and long-time collaborator Miguel gather together some of their earliest demos along with more recent out-takes in a final tribute to their late leader, drug casualty Brad Nowell.
Comparing the earliest work on this release to the later hits, it's striking how far Nowell's songwriting had progressed. The band was just beginning to synthesise its diverse influencesinto something that was instantly recognisable as Sublime. The early songs range from the straight pop of "New Realization" to reggae ("Don't Push") to the blend of ska and hip hop that was their signature ("Garbage Grove"). On "April 29th1992 (Leary)", Nowell explores the real motivation behind the LA riots from the partly-humorous, partly-serious point-of-view that would characterise the bulk of his work. One canonly wonder how far Nowell would have taken his music had he not passed away just as he was entering his prime.

Track Listing

1. Doin' Time
2. Get Out
3. Romeo
4. New Realization
5. Don't Push
6. Slow Ride
7. Chick On My Tip
8. Had A Dat
9. Trenchtown Rock
10. Badfish
11. Drunk Drivin'
12. Saw Red
13. Garbage Grove
14. April 29 1992 (Miami)
15. Super Punani
16. Legal Dub
17. What's Really Goin' Wrong
18. Doin' Time
19. Thanx Dub

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65344 in Music
• Released on: 1999-12-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Explicit Lyrics, Import

Customer Reviews

Buy it if you want to make MCA happy, not Brad
Lets get one thing straight-Sublime were one of the most talented acts and best bands to come out of America in the 90's. However, 'Second Hand Smoke' doesn't represent this. Firstly, its a collection released after Bradley Nowell's rather untimely and depressing death, and therefore represents previous material, some of it already released (i.e. Badfish)

While people may argue that you can never get tired of songs like 'Badfish', and that they should be on any Sublime collection, thats what the Greatest Hits album is for. Unreleases songs such as 'Romeo' and 'New Realization' have bags of potential, but due to fairly poor recordings get tiresome easily, and 'Get Out!' is in fact a decent tune, despite it's needless, rambling ending. I'm not one to slag of Sublime. In fact, they are 1 of my favourite bands, but you can't help thinking MCA put this out to make some money of Brad's death and put together any old random recordings.

For example, 'Don't Push' makes the cut, and yes it is a slightly different version. Does it better the original? No, it doesn't, and incidently 'Saw Red' also makes the cut, and along with 'Badfish' it hasn't changed, and also makes the Greatest Hits album.

Second Hand Smoke therefore is in my opinion the worst of the 3 after Brads death releases from MCA. If you want to get into Sublime, this isn't a good place to start, as it doesn't show the band anywhere near their capabilities.
Check out 'Sublime' or '40 oz. To Freedom' to get a real background on the band, and as mentioned before the Greatest Hits set to be fair to MCA is a decent collection, and the live album is another good asset.

To close, curiosity of a decent band might make you want to buy this, but it in no way matches the band's previous work and despite having the odd tune, isn't really worth your money.

ideal if you like other sublime albums.
Doin time, one of three MCA releases after the untimely demise of the band in '96, is a collection of unrealeased studio tracks and bottlegs. The album is full of amazing tracks that have great musical depth: "get out", "slow ride" and "romeo" are just a few. Although this is a particularly beautiful sublime album, it won't really appeal to newer fans, however if you have experienced 40oz, robin' and self titled, second hand smoke is ideal for you. Its worth way ore than the price, so do anything to get your hands on this beauty.

Sublime selection
For those of you who have never come across the band before, this will be your essential initiation into their addictive breed of music. It WILL NOT leave the stereo - once it's bitten you it's inside your head! Recommended to anyone with a taste for the fine ska-punk excitement.