New Moodio

For fans of Eleventh Dream Day, the existence of New Moodio can't help but beg the question "What if?" Any number of "alternative" bands were chewed up and spit out by the major labels in the feeding frenzy following Nevermind, but few had a sadder story than Eleventh Dream Day (see bio for details). El Moodio, with no one at the label interested in promoting it at all, sank like a stone and filled cutout bins, thus effectively derailing a band on the rise. But what if EDD had put out the album they originally intended? What if Atlantic and their bungling had been out of the picture? Well, who knows, really. Music is surely a fickle enterprise. One thing is for sure, though: the band-financed, Brad Wood-engineered version of El Moodio (now New Moodio) easily bests the major-label version (which was a darn good album). Recorded and mixed in just a few days, there's an immediacy to these recordings that's slightly lacking on the Atlantic version. Also, there are a number of great tunes on New Moodio which have never appeared anywhere, re-recorded or not. Of course, the track shuffling gives the album a different flow as well. A handful of these tracks were released on promo or import singles, but were never widely available. Given that the band was still recording as of 2011, it's hard to argue that this alternative scenario would have made a great impact on the band's success, but it is interesting to think about. New Moodio catches a hungry band at a pivotal time early in their career. It's a fresh perspective to what might have been and a damn good listen, as well.