Greatest Hits

By calling their Greatest Hits CD as such, Space Cadet is being very ironic. This is the Texans' first full-length album, and the focus is on new material; thus, this 2003 release isn't really a greatest-hits package. Another thing that adds to the irony and humor of the title is the fact that the term greatest-hits sounds somewhat dated in the 21st century; it has a '60s/'70s connotation, whereas most of today's artists prefer the term "best of." OK, now that it's been established that Space Cadet has a sense of irony, what about the music itself? The music itself is quite solid. Space Cadet is among the numerous post-grunge bands that surfaced in the early 2000s; the thing that separates them from most of the post-grunge competition is the hooky power pop element they bring to the table. Greatest Hits obviously owes a lot to Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, and the Foo Fighters, but there is also a fair amount of Cheap Trick and the Beatles in their punky alternative pop/rock sound. In some respects, Greatest Hits brings to mind what Courtney Love was going for on Celebrity Skin, which was Hole's most poppy, hook-minded effort and was a definite departure from the blistering alt-metal of Pretty on the Inside and the straight-up grunge of Live Through This. Ted Levin, Space Cadet's founder/lead vocalist, obviously isn't trying to be a riot grrrl — he's the wrong gender for that — but Greatest Hits does share Celebrity Skin's desire to bring something hooky and infectious to a post-Nevermind rock world. While Greatest Hits has its share of darkness and angst, it also has a sense of fun at times — especially when Space Cadet successfully covers the Cars' 1979 hit "Let's Go." And when all is said and done, Greatest Hits ends up becoming one of the more memorable post-grunge discs of late 2003.