good songwriter, so I knew we had good songs, but it was sorta like, 'Wow, if this doesn't go, this might all end right here.'" Pro Tools were utilized during the recording, including on the song "El Distorto de Melodica", which was composed in Pro Tools by associate producer Lars Fox, using techniques he'd developed while with his band, Grotus. On earlier Everclear releases, Alexakis sped up the tapes of songs to make them faster and more energetic. Due to Pro Tools, he was able to speed up songs without having his pitch altered. Fox recalled that "Everything to Everyone" was sped up by ten percent. He remarked, "If he'd sung it and sped it up that much he'd sound like Mickey Mouse. He'd sound like a chipmunk. So he sung it with the track already sped up some percentage." The final mixes for So Much for the Afterglow were completed in June 1997. Promotion Following a run of shows in the US during late 1997, Everclear had a troubled tour of Australia, which saw the band temporarily break up, with bassist Craig Montoya eventually leaving the tour. At the time, MTV News stated, "Media reports from down under reveal that Montoya's bass was stolen at the Extreme Games concert on the Gold Coast; a firecracker or pipe bomb was thrown on the stage in Melbourne; and that Alexakis was hit in the face by a shoe in Wollongong. [Australian music industry columnist Christie] Eliezer's column also reports that following the theft of the guitar, Alexakis swore at the audience." Alexakis later claimed the behaviour of the Australian fans didn't lead to friction, saying "The problem wasn't with me. The problem was that the other people were having a hard time. Look, I love Australia! Especially Melbourne. Every time I go down there, I almost don't wanna come back. I love it there." Eklund also elaborated, "That's complete bullshit. That's a retelling of what happened. I love Australia, too. It's one of my favorite places in the world. That's not what happened." Reception So Much for the Afterglow received a mostly positive reaction from critics. The Orlando Sentinel observed in their review that, "It almost seems that Everclear is writing a soundtrack for their lives by singing about the 'girl next door', poverty, egotistical snobs and a father who abandons his family. Though Everclear does tackle some depressing subjects, their