The Perfect Reminder

by Craig McAllister

The story of ‘I’ve Seen Everything,’ the second album by The Trashcan Sinatras, released in May 1993.

332 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Craig White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get Roon' The Road 'n' Get This Signed, Davy!
this is a review of the hardback edition...........
............which is a luxurious volume, gorgeously illustrated, written with an obvious love of the subject, meticulously detailed, and quite an ambitious project altogether. published in conjunction with the re-mastered re-issue of The Trash Can Sinatras' 2nd album, 'I've Seen Everything', this is a bold move by the people at 'Last Night From Glasgow' - both a book for those who love the album, and also for those who've never heard it for ages, or at all! it may inspire others to invest in the album, often quoted as amongst the best Scottish albums ever. disgracefully (especially as i'm related by marriage to one of the protagonists), it's an album i didn't really know well, but suitably armed with a shiny new copy (with extra tracks), i'm getting there. however, this is not an album review, so to the book..........
written by Craig McAllister, it's as much about those who love the album as it is about the band. the bulk of the book taking a track by track form with contributions from others involved and notable fans at the juncture of their favourite songs and memories of the band/album - the band members offer their individual recollections at the start of each chapter, and this serves to expand details and procedures used in writing and recording. the book also covers the band's great exodus from tropical Irvine to equatorial Kilmarnock (mibbe more a journey of the mind?) to set up sticks at Shabby Road studios, where the album was recorded. the book is certainly crammed with more information than i can squeeze out of my brother in law! it feels distinctly different to most music/album biographies i have read, maybe due to my knowing the locations written about, or maybe just down to being simply a very good book to read, and as i say, beatifully presented!
will that get me a signature, Davy?

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Filled with beautiful photography and, for the first time, the official lyrics, this book covers one of the great-but-underheard albums of the 1990s. After the band's debut album, Cake, filled with witty wordplay and sparkling, jangly guitars, the band disappeared and returned with a magnum opus, capital-A Album that showed their maturation as a band and as songwriters.
I was really hoping this would be like a 33 & 1/3 for *I've Seen Everything*...and the sections where the band and the others who worked on the album talk about the writing of the songs and the recording of them is AMAZING... but it makes up about 20% of the book. The rest is filled with fans reminiscing about how they discovered TCS, what their music means to them, and what their favorite track on the album is and why.
There were some moving and amusing stories in there, but I just wanted to hear more from Frank, John, Paul, Davy, Stephen, and the people in the room/s where this beautiful work of art was conceived, gestated, and born.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

To have a book like this, that celebrates one of my absolute favorite pieces of music and art, is a real gift. The Trashcan Sinatras 2nd album has such depth, beauty, and emotion. Its melodies and lyrics are among the best ever written in the past 50 years IMHO. The book lovingly compiles all the perspectives, backstories, and anecdotes around each song and how it all came together as the album it is.

If you are a Trashcan Sinatras fan, this is vital. If you are a music fan, you can easily get lost in the album with this book as your guide.

[Rachel Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this, like listening to the album, feels like time traveling…