Destination: Overdrive (The Best of Outloud)

Following the enormous achievement that the band's third album Let's Get Serious was, Outloud no doubt had regained a certain dose of self-esteem after a rather unexciting start. Maybe a bit too much, as they wasted no time to return to the scene with... a greatest hits album. Now, the operation no doubt had its sense, as Destination: Overdrive contains a good chunk of an album I rated 90%, and both the preceding works were particularly suitable for a selection of their few best tracks, leaving out the numerous fillers, yet I still think that maybe a best-of album after only three full-lengths is a bit premature, not to say vaguely pretentious. Also, a true, really honest collection of the best Outloud songs would have been a repetition of the Let's Get Serious tracklist, plus 'We Run' as a bonus track, but that's not how it works, I'm afraid.

Jokes aside, the songs are taken without any kind of discernible remixing and/or edits. Let's Get Serious can still count on the most appearances (five), also seeing its most shining star ('Bury the Knife') as the closer number, with possibly the glaring omission of 'All in Vain' in favour of 'One More Time'. Both We'll Rock You to Hell and Back Again! and Love Catastrophe are featured with four tracks, although the general level is decidedly lower, exception made for the obvious highlights represented by 'We Run' and 'Falling Rain'. I was also happy at the presence of 'Broken Sleep' from the debut, but especially loathed the inclusion of 'Waiting for Your Love' and 'Isolation Game'.

The lone exclusive material is provided by the opener, which is a cover of the well-known '80s hit 'I'm So Excited' by the Pointer Sisters – and it's admittedly enjoyable, with a predictable, more streamlined AOR structure, as well as a meatier guitar sound and a slightly faster section plus solo at the end. Chandler Mogel's always immaculate, soaring voice is a pleasant feature also in this song, in case, for some reason, you were wondering.

Still, a milestone in Outloud's career was reached, and now the band could focus on the successor to their magnum opus, proving it wasn't just a massive fluke. Sadly, history developed a bit differently in this regard.

-review written for the 10th Diamhea Memorial Review Challenge – may you rest in peace, Chris.