Far: Water & Solutions (Re-issue)

Immortal Records’ newly reissued “Deluxe DVD” edition of Far’s Water & Solutions seems oddly timed. Originally released in 1998, a few minutes before everything emo blew the hell up, the album and the band that made it disintegrated quickly after its release. The band’s two principles went on to create entities at the opposite ends of the sonic spectrum. Singer/guitarist Jonah Matranga gets crazy sensitive and solo under the Onelinedrawing moniker and guitarist Shaun Lopez makes a decidedly ickier brand of alterna-metal with the Revolution Smile. Neither artist has made any significant inroads into mainstream culture, so why now? Why the re-packaging with a bonus DVD of live performances, videos, and photographs? Who’s gonna buy this? Isn’t emo on life-support everywhere other than the Target electronics section? Even modern rock radio has thrown over the tough guitars of Korn and the Deftones for Franz Ferdinand and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Is there a possibility that this album is so great that it warrants a second chance at daylight? That depends on who you ask. And when you ask them.

Track 1: “Never, Never”

Me at 22: This song is perfect. The guitars make me hate my ex-girlfriend so much. Marshall stacks all the way up.

Me at 28: Why are the guitars so loud? This guy has a great voice. He shouldn’t have to over-sing. They should have laid back on the sonics. Like, right here: he just starts screaming “Never, Never” out of nowhere. There’s no need for that. There’s a melody there, they should have worked harder on it.

Me at 22: That part is awesome.

Track 3: “Really Here”

Me at 28: This starts off pretty well. You can hear him singing something about sobriety and getting old. It’s a shame he’s so blown out of the water most of the time.

Me at 22: Why would you be sober? I do like the soft singing, though. It makes me really miss my ex-girlfriend.

Track 5: “I Like It”

Me at 28: This is probably the best song on the album. Jonah gets to sing over a normal volume guitar for a verse and chorus before they start beating the crap out of everything. But by then, you’re already hooked into the melody. I’m actually feeling kind of pumped up and nostalgic. Maybe we can go get in a fight after this.

Track 6: “The System”

Me at 22: This track never lets up. It’s straight ahead the whole time. The drummer is amazing on this one.

Me at 28: The drum mics are really turned up on this one. You never could recognize the difference. And that by the books hardcore breakdown at the end was cliché five years before they wrote it.

Me at 22: You know what? You’re kind of an asshole. Can’t you just enjoy something for what it is? Things were different back then. Shhh … here comes “Nestle”.

Track 7: “Nestle”

Me at 28: I remember liking this one. The chorus is something like “Ooooh, nestle”.

Me at 22: Yep.

Me at 28: That’s retarded, but it shows off his voice a little bit. Don’t get me wrong. I like shifts in dynamics. They just have to be, you know, dynamic. All of this loud then soft, soft then loud stuff is predictable. They were tight enough to pull it off, though. I’ll give ’em that. Here’s that chorus again. How did he get away with that?

Me at 22: Maybe he didn’t take himself so seriously.

Me at 28: It’s scarier to think that he did.

Me at 22: The album gets a little slow from here on out.

Track 8: “In 2 Again”

Me at 28: Is that a violin? “In 2 Again” has a violin in it? It’s amazing how you gloss right over that when you’re 22.

Me at 22: Can we skip ahead?

Track 9: “Wear It So Well”

Me at 28: Sure. God, listen to that bass sound: low, slow and evil. It’s the first time I’ve heard him play all night. We…

Me at 22: One more skip ahead.

Track 10: “Man Overboard”

Me at 22: This is my song.

Me at 28: Let me guess, it’s slow at first and then it kicks in?

Me at 22: Kicks in like crazy.

Me at 28: And then it stays kicked in?

Me at 22: Until the end, when it’s just him singing alone about pavement or something.

Me at 28: That sounds dramatic.

Me at 22: The last two songs are kinda slow. The last one is pretty good though.

Track 12: “Waiting for Sunday”

Me at 28: This is kind of pretty. Wait, did he just say that he hopes his neighbors move away because they’re “on welfare, kill babies, pass bad laws, start all the wars”. I’m not listening to this anymore.

Me at 22: Wait, its getting ready to kick in.