Compound Red - Always a Pleasure

I don’t know how many people remember Compound Red, but they are apparently doing a reunion show come the end of December (more info on that later). Seeing that got me thinking about one of my favorite releases of theirs, Always a Pleasure. The album was their second and final before breaking up in 1999. Sometime after the split, there was a release of a 2CD anthology which I am pretty sure is available through their website.

The band originally formed in the late 80’s in Milwaukee and released a number of singles, comp tracks, and cassettes before releasing their first album Mr. Microcosm in 1993. In between albums they lost their original singer Jon Lyman and he was replaced with Greg Steffke for Always a Pleasure in 1998. The album, while being their second, would also be their final before eventually breaking up in 1999. Always a Pleasure saw the band basically coming into their own, and to me, put themselves on the list as one of the Midwest’s finer emo/post-hardcore groups. Although they often toured with many other mid nineties emo staples like Mineral, Promise Ring, and Braid they never quite received the amount of attention as some of those groups. It’s not entirely surprising since their sound occasionally shifted more towards the hard hitting and lumbering qualities that of like Shiner. However the vocals from Steffke often led them to be generally associated more with the ongoing emo scene during that period of time.

Compound Red – Versus the Ocean [MP3]
Compound Red – Cancel the Sound [MP3]
Compound Red – Sky [MP3]

For those that might have been a fan of this band when they were around, you can visit their website and get a bit more information on to where and when the reunion show is taking place. Unfortunately Always a Pleasure is out of print. If you don’t mind the digital format, it’s still available for download at iTunes or you can ravage Amazon where I am sure there is a few used copies. Regardless, I suggest picking this up some way or another.