The Eve 6 Albums Ranked
Eve 6 was a fixture of my ’90s alt rock playlists at the time when I was branching out and attempting to discover music on my own. That was probably about ten years after “Inside Out,” the single for which the band is still known, was released. Indeed, Eve 6 is sometimes lumped in among the other “one hit wonders” of the era, and while their early success has not yet been matched, there’s a lot more to enjoy from the group. Eve 6 works within a form of well-produced rock and are sometimes lumped in with the pop punk music of the late ’90s and early 2000s. Harder influences from the punk segment are definitely heard on the four albums released during the 14 years from 1998 to 2012, and Eve 6 also leaned into pop hooks as they progressed, but I don’t know that they’ve ever fit neatly into the “pop punk” mold. But with their new EP GRIM VALUE releasing on June 25, 2021, I thought I’d reflect on the band’s work, spaced out as it is now over 23 years. GRIM VALUE is in fact Eve 6’s first release of new material in nine years, and although it’s not ranked here (along with the band’s [as Eleventeen] first release, the EP ELEVENTEEN [1996]), it’s an interesting, so-so return from the group. If nothing else, Eve 6’s Twitter presence is worth commending, attributable to frontman Max Collins. In any event, I’ve ranked those four aforementioned albums below.
EDIT 10/25/22: Added HYPER RELEVISATION.
#5 — SPEAK IN CODE (2012)
Favorite track: “B.F.G.F”
SPEAK IN CODE came after the biggest gap between Eve 6 records, at just under nine years…well, up until we get a new album, which I think the release of GRIM VALUE kind of heralds. In that time, the group had broken up and reformed, and since SPEAK IN CODE’s release, Collins and Co. have worked in various side projects. For example, Fitness, a band comprised of Collins, Eve 6 drummer Ben Hilzinger, and Kenny Carkeet of Awolnation, is a synth rock band with two EPs and one album to its credit since 2017. The instinct of that sound can be heard on SPEAK IN CODE (although of Fitness, only Collins worked on it), but not always to great effect. With their debut self-titled record, Eve 6 already claimed a spot as a pretty well-produced and mainstream-sounding alt/pop/punk band. That’s not a dig, it’s just an acknowledgement that there aren’t really “raw” records in the band’s early discography, unless you count the Eleventeen EP. But by SPEAK IN CODE, Eve 6 had embraced a really poppy sound, upping the strong pop hooks from earlier records into an overt sheen…but a shallow one. Synth and electronic sounds, at best, support the guitar-oriented rock of Eve 6’s initial identity and, at worst, overtake it. There are fun tracks on the album, like the sunny “B.F.G.F.,” but the album glazes over into poppy malaise. SPEAK IN CODE isn’t bad, but I don’t think it was the return that fans, myself included, were hoping for.
#4 — EVE 6 (1998)
Favorite track: “Inside Out”
EVE 6 was the band’s debut, coming two years after they had recorded an EP right out of high school under the name Eleventeen. Rebranded as Eve 6, apparently inspired by an episode of THE X-FILES (1993–2002; 2016–2018), and on the strength of “Inside Out,” still the band’s most identifiable song, their first record went platinum. It’s a commercial success that has yet to be matched by the band. But in spite of the greatness of the big hit, the rest of EVE 6 doesn’t measure up. Oh, to be clear, the album is still good late ’90s mainstream alt rock (isn’t that an oxymoron?), representative of the sound of the time. And the supports of “Inside Out” are pretty good, like “Leech” and “Superhero Girl.” But if SPEAK IN CODE turns into a “poppy malaise,” the harder tracks of EVE 6 start to blend together. They mostly sound similar, and while a number have the hooky distinction that would be refined over the next two albums, the songs of EVE 6 don’t always stand out.
#3 — HORRORSCOPE (2000)
Favorite track: “Here’s to the Night”
As a little aside: it’s kind of weird that I consider Eve 6 a “‘90s band,” considering they only ever released one record in the decade. Anyways. HORRORSCOPE was the band’s sophomore slump commercially, although the album’s gold certification was still a strong indicator of sales success. The commercial step down from EVE 6 was not an indicator of HORRORSCOPE’s diminished artistic quality, however. With their second album, Eve 6 transformed the almost one-note energy of their debut (or maybe one-and-a-half-note) into at least a two-note vibe. What I mean to say is, as exemplified by “Here’s to the Night,” Eve 6 turned to softer sounds and crooners that sat in a different feeling of angst than the total, pounding drive of their first album. But those kinds of songs are also good on HORRORSCOPE, which ultimately just feels like a fuller listening experience than EVE 6.
#2 — HYPER RELEVISATION (2022)
Favorite track: “Androgyne Friend”
Eve 6’s first album in ten and a half years (their biggest gap between records at the time of this writing) is a wonderful surprise, a return to the quality of the band’s best work nearly 20 years or more ago, if not the exact sound. But my reaction to HYPER RELEVISATION wasn’t initially very rosy (ironic, considering album opener “Rosy Shame”). At first listen, I had an issue with how Collins’ vocals were mixed, which seemed to be subsumed into the whole record’s roiling, energetic sound. But as I dove into HYPER RELEVISATION again and again, I found something new to appreciate, including the interplay of Collins’ double-tracked voice. While Eve 6 has made more poppy tunes before, there is a really sly attention to catchy hooks and choruses that subsist alongside the out-and-out rawness that belies the direction of this album’s predecessor of a decade earlier, SPEAK IN CODE. HYPER RELEVISATION isn’t the most “accessible” thing Eve 6 has yet made, but it’s a rich work to come from a long hiatus, bucking the expectations for later work from a band known for early, chart-topping successes.
#1 — IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD (2003)
Favorite track: “Friend of Mine”
IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD is one of those albums where it’s hard for me to pick just one favorite track because they’re all really good. It’s far and away Eve 6’s best album, and it’s a shame that its low sales precipitated the band’s release from their label and (ultimately temporary) dissolution. I don’t think the band could ever truly have been associated with pop punk, but if it was, IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD was their embrace of emo, as many pop punk bands were doing in the early 2000s. The sound got darker from HORRORSCOPE, certainly, but the pounding angst, typified by Collins’ deep, yelling voice (yelling, not screaming, a distinction I think you’ll be able to hear), was given new life by the pop hooks that made “Inside Out” a hit. They’re just about everywhere on this album, though not relegated to a song or two. IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD offers the most complete version of Eve 6’s goodness (I don’t know if I would go so far as to say they’re a great band), soaring above the other entries in the group’s discography with a number of headbang-able, dance-able, and sing-able tracks that do rise above “good” into “great” territory.
