Two years ago, the Spins online fan community was a buzz. A new album was upon us. 

Here Comes The Bride had came through some rough times; Mark's departure from the band happened during the recording of the album, there was a lack of a record deal for a long time and, because of their new sound no doubt, Chris and Aaron had toyed with  name change. But eventually, it all worked out: Aaron played bass on the album, DAS/UNIVERSAL saw some promise with the Spins, and they realized that a name change would hurt the band rather than help it. 

So finally, on Tuesday, June 1st 1999, Here Comes The Bride hit the shelves. Upon early listening, many fans were appalled: this album a certain reggae feel to it, among other things. It was defiantly NOT the Spin Doctors. There were no funky jams or intense guitar lines that fans had come to love over the years. For a while, bad reviews flooded the net. But then, one fan spoke up. 

"The more I listen to the new CD, the more I find I really like it," he wrote. "It is such a bold move from what they've done in the past, and what I wrote before was the words from a long-time fan afraid of change. Maybe change is just what the band needs. I listen to the songs a lot now but don't listen to it like a Spin Doctors release, but as a whole new band. My skepticism is now joy."

Soon, this feeling spread to most of the fans. Including me. 

Now, two years later, the album is still in my CD changer. Every song, with the exception of a few towards the end, is like a new band. They're reggae,  hip-hop, jazz, Latin, and good old fashioned funk. The Spin Doctors keep you guessing as to what they're going to do next throughout the whole CD. Just as you think that, Ok, this is the Spin Doctors I know, they hit you with Dodging Assassins, a strange but very funky tune the showcases Aaron's drumming the most. And they top it all off with "Tomorrow Can Pay The Rent," a beautiful song with Chris on acoustic guitar and vocals.

Quite simply, this album is a masterpiece, a solid 5 stars, even more so two years later. Every time I listen to it, I find something new that I hadn't noticed before. It's too bad that the rest of the world didn't catch on.

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