Better Than Ezra & Kevin Griffin, New releases coming! Options

[J.Sax]

I know there are some BTE fans here on the boards, so I thought I'd share the latest news with everyone. At a recent show, one of the band members said that there would be a new album coming out sometime in 2009! This is great news after there were rumors of them calling it quits a while back.

On top of that, Kevin recently redid his MySpace profile and it looks like there will be a solo album coming out this year. He's been posting new music to his profile for fans to get a glimpse--he said some will be solo and some will be BTE. There have been three so far, but as of right now, he's removed the older ones.

I'm here to help! Here are the three new songs that he posted..."I Just Knew," "Black Light" and "The Loveless" Any new songs will be posted at this address, as well, and I'll be directing everyone there whenever there's something.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=db9f91f...5a449471d4ceca6

So, what's everybody's opinion?

October 29 - "The Loveless" (Mix 5) added
October 22 - "Hey Love" added
August 29 - "Wounded" and "Simple Song" added

This post has been edited by J.Sax: Oct 29 2008, 5:53 pm

[CRH]

Wow thanks so much...I figured these songs were gone from me after a bunch of listens before they were taken down.

My favorite news from that is (almost?) confirmation of a new BTE album in 2009. The break-up rumors were killing me...they are the one band that I religiously listen to that has continued to release unbelievable music. I'm also going through a painful withdrawal...it's approaching 2 years since I've seen them (with Sister Hazel at the Troc).

As for the 3 songs, they are all really solid efforts. "I Just Knew" is a nice mellow song that shows how strong Kevin can be without being backed by a lot of instrumentation. "Loveless" is probably my least favorite of the three, but nice. I can't think of too many BTE songs that repeat like that in the chorus. "Black Light" is classic Kevin Griffin to me. I am excited to hear what he does with a whole solo album...and how it will be distiniguished from a BTE album.

Thanks again for these songs. Rock on all things BTE.

[J.Sax]

Kevin added a new song, "This Time," on Wednesday without an announcement and then took it down, so I didn't even get to hear it. Hopefully he'll put it back up eventually because it was supposed to be pretty good.

The song he replaced it with is also good, though. It's called "Wounded."

He also added "Simple Song," an old BTE song that was on their MySpace for a couple days a few years back. Back then I didn't know of any solutions to download source files, so I recorded it through an audio recorder. It was pretty bad quality. I was actually just thinking the other day about how cool it would be if they'd post it again and then it happened!

Both songs have been added to the link above!

[CRH]

Kevin added a new song, "This Time," on Wednesday without an announcement and then took it down, so I didn't even get to hear it. Hopefully he'll put it back up eventually because it was supposed to be pretty good.

The song he replaced it with is also good, though. It's called "Wounded."

He also added "Simple Song," an old BTE song that was on their MySpace for a couple days a few years back. Back then I didn't know of any solutions to download source files, so I recorded it through an audio recorder. It was pretty bad quality. I was actually just thinking the other day about how cool it would be if they'd post it again and then it happened!

Both songs have been added to the link above!

Thank you sir.

Do bootlegs for BTE exist the way they do for Live? I've made some attempts to find stuff, but it doesn't seem anywhere near as readily available as Live's.

[Hoodstock]

I don't think I'll buy any albums but I did like the band back in the day. It's good to hear that they're still around.

[CRH]

I don't think I'll buy any albums but I did like the band back in the day. It's good to hear that they're still around.

I'd recommend giving their stuff a chance...and eventually buying the albums. They've been around since 1988 and continue to make incredible music. Every band I listen to pretty much got big in that 1994 era, and a lot of them are still around. But they don't make great music anymore (LIVE, for example). However, Better Than Ezra has not stopped making incredible music.

[J.Sax]

Thank you sir.

Do bootlegs for BTE exist the way they do for Live? I've made some attempts to find stuff, but it doesn't seem anywhere near as readily available as Live's.

There are numerous bootlegs, but I don't know of any sites that archive them like we have with Bootleg Heaven and such. I don't have any, myself, or I'd share. It's more of a trade scene over on their forums.

I'd recommend giving their stuff a chance...and eventually buying the albums. They've been around since 1988 and continue to make incredible music. Every band I listen to pretty much got big in that 1994 era, and a lot of them are still around. But they don't make great music anymore (LIVE, for example). However, Better Than Ezra has not stopped making incredible music.

Agreed. I haven't been disappointed with them yet. Garden is definitely my favorite, though. Have you heard the Surprise tape from the late 80's? That's some good stuff.

It's been confirmed that there will be a new BTE album in 2009!

This post has been edited by J.Sax: Oct 8 2008, 9:33 pm

[moefan]

Have you heard the Surprise tape from the late 80's? That's some good stuff.

I am a big fan of BTE, own almost all the albums, but never have heard Surprise, I have been searching all over the internet and forums with no luck. If anyone does have I would really appreciate the chance to sample early BTE.

Thanks,
Scott

[J.Sax]

I'll get that up right now for anybody interested.

[J.Sax]

Would have had the link up a little quicker, but then Mets told me that "Forever" was up on LIVE's MySpace and I had to download it to share with everyone. haha

http://www.mediafire.com/file/jm0mwh2vn0d/surprise.rar

I don't know who exactly to give credit to for this, but it was someone on the BTE forums who actually worked on the album.

[moefan]

Thanks a bunch, you have helped me complete my search...that's what i love about these communities, ultimately you can find anything and everything you're looking for with a little please and thank you.

[Peetur]

Kevin has a new song up on his myspace called "hey love". Do you think you could work your magic and put it on mediafire? And thanks for putting the others up!

[dangum]

Kevin has a new song up on his myspace called "hey love". Do you think you could work your magic and put it on mediafire?

http://www.myspacemp3.org

[J.Sax]

Kevin has a new song up on his myspace called "hey love". Do you think you could work your magic and put it on mediafire? And thanks for putting the others up!

Thanks for the heads up! I'd been checking every few days for a new song and nothing had turned up as of the last time I looked.

It's been added to the folder, so enjoy!

Interesting note: the album tag reads Black Light EP. Sounds like we may have another little taste soon before a proper album comes out!

[J.Sax]

New mix of "The Loveless" uploaded.