Say Anything's Claim to Fame: ...Was a Real Boy

SAY ANYTHING... WAS A REAL BOY

SCORE: 90/100

…Was a Real Boy manages to be even more well-known than the original version of the album, and it's clear that the power of this reissue helped to solidify Say Anything's position as one of the most iconic and reveled emo bands of their time - even now. 

The thing about the Is/Was a Real Boy duo is that this isn't just a standard "deluxe" version of the album, it's an entire reimagined second disk with a new aesthetic, new sounds, and new themes. It's something that showcases another side of Max Bemis after the "Is" side of the record was recorded in the midst of a manic episode, and this disc showcases a much different side that is still all over the place and full of mania, but in a less awkward way than the standard album had to offer.

Say Anything is a band that has grown on me an extreme amount, with their music being some of my most played material at the current moment, and with this album having songs that I cannot get enough of, with this reissue only amplifying that and providing more content for any fans of the main album; it's practically an entire second album tacked on to the original with some added flair that stays loyal to the source material.

Initially, the songs that made it onto this reissue were made for an AIDS charity benefit album Max Bemis and the band were working on, but the songs were scrapped - these tracks were known as the "VS AIDS demos" for some time before the band was signed by a bigger label, and '...Was a Real Boy' was eventually born from these tracks. Bemis did not feel that the band was big enough to support such a big cause, but the album wound up becoming a lot bigger than expected, despite the AIDS benefit EP being scrapped and remade into what would late become the material on this reissue. 

From being recorded in Kevin Seaton's garage to becoming what would be one of the band's biggest releases, ...Was a Real Boy is an incredibly impressive feat for what used to be a small band; with Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too being one of the band's biggest accomplishments to this day.

For a reissue, it's impressive to think that this is one of the most important things the band had ever done at this point in their run. Some of their absolute best material resides on this B-side, and it's an absolute must for any fans of the original album.