The Last Dance- Now and Forever After

ARTIST: The Last Dance
ALBUM: Now and Forever After
LABEL: Dancing Ferret Discs
REVIEWER: Matthew J.
DATE: 10-28-07

This is a bit different from your usual "best of" collection. Instead of providing a historical retrospective of the band's career, The Last Dance's latest CD is more like a state of the union address. There are historical pieces, sure, like long-running live favorite "Do You Believe in Angels?" and "She's Dancing," which dates back to the band's first cassette tape demos, but they're presented here in an updated form, less like their original versions and a lot more like what they sound like in the band's current live set. There are also several new remixes of more recent songs, including a remix of "Breath" by The Dreamside that throbs with bass-heavy electronics and an alternate version of "Fairytale," from the band's first full-length, retitled "The Storm" and reworked as a high energy dance track centered around the gliding soprano of guest singer Kelly Garrett. For diehard fans, though, the highlight of this collection is definitely the remastered version of "Mystery," a track previously available only on the long out-of-print EP, Staring at the Sky. That's more than enough reason to pick this up, but if you're a a newer fan or perhaps discovered The Last Dance at one of their recent live shows, this is the perfect place to start. Think of it as an introduction; once you've heard it a few times, you'll be hunting down the rest of their albums in no time.

Visit The Last Dance at www.thelastdance.com.