By calling their
Greatest Hits CD as such,
Space Cadet is being very ironic. This is the Texans' first full-length album, and the focus is on new material; thus, this 2003 release isn't really a greatest-hits package. Another thing that adds to the irony and humor of the title is the fact that the term greatest-hits sounds somewhat dated in the 21st century; it has a '60s/'70s connotation, whereas most of today's artists prefer the term "best of." OK, now that it's been established that
Space Cadet has a sense of irony, what about the music itself? The music itself is quite solid.
Space Cadet is among the numerous post-grunge bands that surfaced in the early 2000s; the thing that separates them from most of the post-grunge competition is the hooky power pop element they bring to the table.
Greatest Hits obviously owes a lot to
Nirvana,
Stone Temple Pilots, and
the Foo Fighters, but there is also a fair amount of
Cheap Trick and
the Beatles in their punky alternative pop/rock sound. In some respects,
Greatest Hits brings to mind what
Courtney Love was going for on
Celebrity Skin, which was
Hole's most poppy, hook-minded effort and was a definite departure from the blistering alt-metal of
Pretty on the Inside and the straight-up grunge of
Live Through This.
Ted Levin,
Space Cadet's founder/lead vocalist, obviously isn't trying to be a riot grrrl -- he's the wrong gender for that -- but
Greatest Hits does share
Celebrity Skin's desire to bring something hooky and infectious to a post-
Nevermind rock world. While
Greatest Hits has its share of darkness and angst, it also has a sense of fun at times -- especially when
Space Cadet successfully covers
the Cars' 1979 hit "Let's Go." And when all is said and done,
Greatest Hits ends up becoming one of the more memorable post-grunge discs of late 2003.