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Matchbox Twenty - Exile On Mainstream

Band Members
Rob Thomas
Kyle Cook
Paul Doucette
Brian Yale

MatchboxTwenty.com
Myspace.com/MatchboxTwenty

Tracklisting
Disc 1
1. How Far We've Come
2. I'll Believe You When
3. All Your Reasons
4. These Hard Times
5. If I Fall
6. Can't Let You Go
7. Long Day
8. Push
9. 3am
10. Real World
11. Back 2 Good
12. Bent
13. If You're Gone
14. Mad Season
15. Disease
16. Unwell
17. Bright

Disc 2
1. How Far We've Come [MP3/MVI DVD]
2. I'll Believe You When [MP3/MVI DVD]
3. All Your Reasons [MP3/MVI DVD]
4. These Hard Times [MP3/MVI DVD]
5. If I Fall [MP3/MVI DVD]
6. Can't Let You Go [MP3/MVI DVD]
7. Long Day [MP3/MVI DVD]
8. Push [MP3/MVI DVD]
9. 3am [MP3/MVI DVD]
10. Real World [MP3/MVI DVD]
11. Back 2 Good [MP3/MVI DVD]
12. Bent [MP3/MVI DVD]
13. If You're Gone [MP3/MVI DVD]
14. Mad Season [MP3/MVI DVD]
15. Disease [MP3/MVI DVD]
16. Unwell [MP3/MVI DVD]
17. Bright Lights [MP3/MVI DVD]
18. Interviews [MVI DVD]
19. Photo Gallery [MVI DVD]
20. How Far We've Come [Nu-Myx/MVI DVD]
21. Additional Digital Content [MVI DVD]

‘Exile On Mainstream’ was released months ago (October 2007) and I’m still listening to it and wondering what the hell happened. Matchbox Twenty were my absolute favourite band in the late-90s and early-2000s (even though their second album wasn’t all that).
With the departure of Adam Gaynor in 2005 (while the band was officially on hiatus) and the move of Paul Doucette to guitar duties, the entire band dynamics have changed. It may be difficult for the untrained fan to hear but those who have spent countless hours listening to the band’s previous albums over and over again may agree with me – ‘Exile On Mainstream’ feels both forced and half-baked.

The album was officially marketed as a Greatest Hits album but contained six new tracks (not simply one or two like other bands). This leads me to the conclusion that the band reformed to either record a full length album but couldn’t write enough material or made a conscious decision to include more than the measly two tracks so more fans would buy it.

The album has also been released on a USB wristband (conveniently released months after the CD was) and there was months of pre-ordering that led fans to believe they may receive a signed copy of the album along with a t-shirt, hat and perhaps poster.
Marketing aside, the tracks on the first disc (except for the single ‘How Far We’ve Come’) are absolutely rubbish. Half of the lyrics don’t even make sense and the rock band Matchbox Twenty has morphed into a bunch of pop harmony singing tryhards.

The second disc contains nothing but the 11 singles that have been previously released so there is nothing new there. This album is nothing but a last ditch grab for cash for a band that should have retired after their third studio album. Please let the rumours of another album in 2009 die in a fire.

Review by Emma Kovacs

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