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Title: MI's best and most underrated
Review: One can draw many parallels between Material Issue and the Smithereens.Their first/early albums focused on typical boy-meets-girl-is-later-alienated-and-gets-jealous themes and featured uncluttered production and clean guitar tones. Later works found them cranking up the Marshalls and getting a bit more shouty.Destination Universe is a rarity in this evolution: plenty of rawk but plenty of hooks, harmony-laced choruses and memorable lyrics. It's less quirky than International Pop Overthrow and less bombastic than Freak City Soundtrack. Jim Ellison seems to be relatively free of the demons that would later lead him to take his own life.It's a shame that this is currently out of print, but if you can find a copy it's the best place to start with MI and one of the best power pop albums you'll hear from any band.
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