 Arrested Development Few groups have left me scratching my head and saying "Wha' happened?" more than Arrested Development, whose precipitous nosedive remains a frustrating denouement to what was supposed to have been an amazing career full of groundbreaking albums. Truth be told, Speech and Co. dropped Three Days, Five Months, Two Days in the Life Of in 1992, and that was pretty much the end. It was all straight, and I mean STRAIGHT downhill from there. I got plugged into the band after catching them at a small club gig in Champaign right when the album came out, before "People Everyday" took MTV by storm and made 'em big stars. The album was a revelation (admittedly, it doesn't sound as deep now as it did then), and the show remains one of the best I've ever seen – so I repeat, "Wha' happened?" Hard to say. Perhaps the positivity/activism quotient for the 90s got used up by 1993 or something. At any rate, even by the time of the '93 release of the Unplugged album it seemed as though people were losing interest in the group in a big way. The Unplugged special itself was pretty great, though the album doesn't hold up to very many repeat listens. The main curiosity about this disc, which still confuses me, is that the whole program is repeated in instrumental form following the actual performance, adding an additional half hour or so to an already album-length program. I mean, who thought anyone would ever listen to an instrumental mix of a live Arrested Development unplugged show? I mean, are you supposed to be so excited by the performance that, as it's ending, you're moved to say, "Man! I'd love to hear it again, except with no vocals!" Very confusing. And the weird thing is, the instrumental mixes feature audible vocals that bleed from the instrument mics, so they're not even pure instrumentals. This whole situation causes me to downgrade the disc a puppy or two. Sometimes bonus tracks are a detriment – yes, it does happen. Maybe they could reissue the CD in a brilliant box without the bonus tracks in some "Hip-Hop Classics of the 90s" series – I bet I would see the album in an entirely new light. As for the songs themselves – very good. It's a tight, exciting show, still enjoyable today despite some dated elements. "Mr. Wendal" and "People Everyday" are done much differently from the album versions ("Wendal" in particular is pretty awesome), and in fact the whole sound has much more of an organic vibe. Non-album bits like "The Gettin'" and "Time" are nice additions, and the remainder is very solid. Being a live album, it's automatically a bit less interesting than the studio album it represents. Perhaps the day will come around when Arrested Development will be remembered fondly instead of mocked, or worse, just ignored. This ought to be a better album than it is. Worthwhile if you find it for like two bucks, but be prepared to be annoyed/confused by the instrumentals. I mean, like, what the hell?
Review by Joko Lomo |