Ear Candy: Big Wreck

We all own a couple (or maybe a lot) of albums that we think are brilliant, but they either only flirted with mainstream success or flew under everyone's radar completely. In Loving Memory Of... by Big Wreck is one of those records for me. Released in 1997, the debut album by Big Wreck did enjoy some success due to radio airplay for the singles "The Oaf" and "That Song", but the band never really broke through to the big time. They recorded a second album, The Pleasure And The Greed,which was a complete commercial failure and eventually disbanded.

In Loving Memory Of... isn't necessarily the most inventive music you will hear in your life, but music doesn't always have to be ground breaking to be thoroughly enjoyable. Lead singer Ian Thornley's voice is reminiscent of Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and suits the band's alternative/grunge sound perfectly. They have a sound that is familiar, but at the same time difficult to describe. If you are a fan of the aforementioned Soundgarden as well as Our Lady Peace and the Matthew Good Band, then Big Wreck would definitely be up your alley. Parts of it even remind me of Jeff Buckley. Not to scare anyone off, but think Nickelback if Nickelback existed in a parallel universe and was actually a really good band. If this album had come out just three or four years later, then I think it could have been a monster hit, but what do I know...

Anyway, enough of me stumbling through a description of their sound...check it out for yourself:

"Blown Wide Open"



"The Oaf"



"That Song"