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by Hal Horowitz
Compiled with Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer's full participation, Dream All Day: The Best of the Posies' 19 tracks still aren't a full career overview. Since their 1988 debut album, Failure, 1998's studio swansong Success, and 2000's live Before the Iceberg were recorded for indie imprints, none of those tracks appear here. But as an anthology of the Posies' successful and influential years on the Geffen and DGC labels, this collection is faultless. Although they only released three albums for the majors, like any classic pop band, the Posies had a handful of obscure, non-album tracks, five of which are this disc's highlights. In his fascinating liner notes, Jon Auer explains that the Hollies were not a huge influence, yet the duo's harmonies and guitar-driven glory are a perfect match for "King Midas in Reverse," originally recorded for a little known Hollies tribute album. Their ringing cover of Big Star's Chris Bell-penned "I Am the Cosmos," an Auer favorite, is thankfully rescued from its B-side status with its inclusion here. Other curiosities, especially "Going, Going, Gone," the band's biggest moneymaker due to its appearance on the million selling Reality Bites soundtrack, flesh out a representative selection of the Posies' best moments. Better than the cartoonish, often overrated, and inconsistent Cheap Trick (who guest on one of their tracks), the Posies balanced smart-alecky lyrics with some of the best power pop melodies to emerge from the punk scene. With remastered sound, a flawless track selection, and terrific liner notes and pictures in an affectionately assembled 20-page booklet, this is a near perfect representation of the band, recommended for both new listeners and hardcore fans.