Alkaline Trio – Remains

When a band has been around for as long as Alkaline Trio has, they almost always have a wide selection of b-sides and rarities laying around at their disposal. The question tends to be what they should do with the tracks that were left over from the recording sessions. I mean, why weren’t they released when they were recorded? Did they just not fit in with the album? Would it have made the album too long? Or did the songs just plain suck? Either way, the fans normally want to hear the songs and determine their own opinions on them, luckily for Alkaline Trio fans, Remains doesn’t fail to impress the listener.

With a selection of twenty-two tracks, Remains collects a variety of b-sides the band has recorded since 2000’s self-titled collection, this includes everything from tracks that were left on the recording floor and tracks from random seven inches that have been released over the years. This, of course, creates a bit of a problem for the hardcore Alkaline fan, because there’s a chance you’ve heard most of the songs on here before. There’s Jaked on Green Beers from the first Atticus compilation, Warbrain from the Rock Against Bush compilation, and all the tracks from the band’s split releases with Hot Water Musicand One Man Army (meaning if you have both of those releases, you already own half the tracks on here). But really, despite that little set back, Remains is still a spectacular release with a wide selection of older-sounding Alkaline Trio songs. There’s some fan favorites like Hell Yes, Queen of Pain and Standard Break From Life, but also some lesser known tracks like Metro, and covers of Hot Water Music and The Damned. The only complaint on the CD portion of this set is the three live tracks, whose recording quality leaves more to be desired. Still, if Remains was just the CD by itself it would be a worthy purchase; but the band didn’t stop there.

The DVD, The Remains Of 2005-2006 offers a brief look into the lives of Alkaline Trio on the road with random live performances scattered throughout (whose sound quality also has some room for improvement). The documentary itself is fairly thin, but still entertaining. You really don’t learn anything new about the band, but instead follow them as they do funny stunts, mess around on the bus and look for lost in-ear monitors. Most of the film is just them listing off where they’re currently at, something that seems boring but is surprisingly entertaining. When it ends, after just over twenty five minutes, you’re surprised that it’s over so soon, but simultaneously surprised that it had been nearly half an hour. On top of the mini documentary, they also have some music videos and radio interviews/performances as some extra features.

Then, to top it all off, Alkaline Trio really delivered with the artwork and booklet, with full lyrics for all the songs (minus the two cover songs) and liner notes from the band talking about the situation in which the songs were recorded, the booklet for Remains is what you want all booklets to be.

Overall, Remains is a great package for both fanatics of the band and new comers to the bands, well worth the purchase either way.