Brad has often been coined as Stone Gossard's side project, or even better yet, his solo project. What the band has been, however, is one of the most underrated bands around. The band, while having Stone be a focal point due to Pearl Jam's success, is actually comprised of members of Satchel as well, a band from the same stomping grounds of Seattle who are excellent in their own right. Thus, with this release, we get some of the best of both bands. The album is comprised of tracks from through the years (1997 and 2001 sessions by both bands), which never made it to the light of day for one reason or another. The album starts out with a few of the tracks from Satchel, which featured Shawn Smith on vocals, Regan Hagar of drums, Jeremy Toback on bass, and Mike Berg on guitars. The tracks by Satchel are much mellower, with piano-heavy jazz undertones throughout. These tracks were taken from the band's 1997 sessions, which never saw the light of day. Here, the songs sound stripped down, yet still full enough to draw you in with Shawn Smith's smooth vocals and piano lines. Standout tracks from the Satchel sessions would definitely include "Peace and Quiet", as well as "Who's Side Are You On?" both of which draw the listener in with smooth piano leads that nearly hypnotize.
Thrown in the middle of the Satchel tracks is the Brad track "Roll Over". It is definitely the hardest track on the album, and the track that contains the most Stone Gossard-influenced guitar work. Listening to this track, it could easily fit into any of the other work Stone has done over the years, be it with Pearl Jam, Neil Young, or otherwise. The album then rolls into the aforementioned "Who's Side Are You On?" before moving on to the rest of the tracks by Brad.
The Brad half of the cd features songs from their 2001 "Welcome To Discovery Park" sessions, which would not end up making the cut on the final release. Brad is simply the same lineup as Satchel, with the addition of Stone on guitar. While the band has featured a few of these songs in a live setting since they were recorded, this is the first time Brad fans get a taste of them on cd.
What definitely stands out on the Brad tracks is that, while they are somewhat similar in style to the Satchel tracks, they are more guitar-laced, thanks to Stone, but also more experimental. The tracks "3 O'clock", as well as "Awake", feature a steady looping drum track, which the rest of the band, musically and vocally, surrounds itself in. While these tracks aren't bad, they aren't what this listener always prefers, and I found myself more than once skipping on to the next track after a minute or two, due to the repetition.
The other way Brad seems to venture out a bit is on "Summertime Song", a happy acoustic-based jam that seems a bit out of character for the band. That could very well be the reason they didn't release it on "Welcome To Discovery Park", but felt more than comfortable releasing it here.
What you find with this album is more of what you know and love about these two bands, if you are a fan. The tracks, for basically being demos, are well recorded and mixed, with balance throughout the recording. While I don't know if this would be a good first introduction to either band for a potential listener, it is an album that, given the chance, could easily grow on you over time.
