Josh Joplin

Best of Josh Joplin Group is, in actuality, a summation of the band's two albums for Artemis, ignoring what came before the 1999 hit "Camera One" as well as the solid work Joplin's done since. (His 2005 album Jaywalker, for example, isn't heard from.) But while the set isn't comprehensive in the least, it does recall the post-Dave Matthews moment in the 1990s when the AAA/Hot AC radio format was truly born, when artists like Joplin, Vertical Horizon, and Sister Hazel got their shot. Joplin's 1999 album was produced by Shawn Mullins, the singer/songwriter who'd brought the world "Lullaby" the year before, and Useful Music featured a similar mix of mannered pop with a contemporary sheen. In Joplin was the immediate influence of Michael Stipe -- "Matter" and "Gravity" sound like outtakes from Monster -- but also the righteous lyricism and measured delivery of Live. "Camera One" itself told a tale similar to Mullins' "Lullaby," its climax a memorable mix of Hollywood self-awareness and human mortality. "Camera one closes in/The soundtrack starts/The scene begins/You're playing you now" -- Joplin acknowledged the debt to Paul Thomas Anderson. Besides Useful Music, Best of Josh Joplin Group includes five songs from the 2002 LP Future That Was. It's a similar sound, thankfully less slick but still mostly about Joplin's at times overdone delivery, with highlights including "Wonderful Ones" and the Michael Penn-ish "Must Be You." ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide