Out now: 'Decade,' the solo career box set by Steve Wynn of The Dream Syndicate

One of the more noteworthy box sets to come out this fall was Decade by Steve Wynn via Real Gone Music.

The 11 CD set chronicles, with lavish deluxe editions, the guitar-driven albums Wynn recorded between 1995 and 2005, most of which have been long out-of-print.

Wynn first gained fame as lead singer and songwriter for the legendary Paisley Underground outfit The Dream Syndicate during the '80s and the current reunion which started in 2012. But his post-Dream Syndicate solo career is equal strong. 

Decade has 166 tracks, 57 of them unreleased, plus 31 other rarities. The other tracks come from Wynn's albums - the American releases Melting In The Dark, Sweetness and Light, My Midnight, Here Come The Miracles, Static Transmission, and ...Tick...Tick...Tick, and the German-only compilation entitled The Emusic Singles Collection (rare tracks from another European-only release, a collection of rarities entitled Pick of the Litter, appear here as well).

During this 10-year period, Steve Wynn recorded dozens of songs – sometimes at home and occasionally in a proper studio. Many of those songs got re-recorded and revamped and became key memorable parts of his catalog. Other songs got tossed away and forgotten.

For the box set, longtime Steve Wynn (and Dream Syndicate) archivist Pat Thomas in cooperation with Wynn listened to about a hundred hours of unreleased tapes and compiled this box set that not only includes remastered (by Mike Milchner of SonicVision) versions of some of Steve Wynn’s best albums but also the first American release of the two rare European only titles.

Several of these albums were recorded with Steve Wynn’s core band of Linda Pitmon on drums, Dream Syndicate guitarist Jason Victor, and longtime Miracle 3 bass player Dave DeCastro. Along the way, there are appearances from Green On Red keyboardist Chris Cacavas, Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb, indie chanteuse Barbara Manning, Chris Brokaw & Thalia Zedek of Come, Tony Maimone of Pere Ubu, John Convertino of Calexico, Rich Gilbert and many others.

Wynn penned very detailed notes that tell the stories behind the origins of all 57 previously unreleased songs. Plus essays from box set producer Pat Thomas and several of Wynn’s long time bandmates. And previously unseen photos from Linda Pitmon’s archives – most of them taken by Linda herself. All are inside a full-color, 48-page book. 

Track listing:

Steve Wynn – Melting in the Dark
CD ONE

1. Why
2. Shelley's Blues, Pt. 2
3. What We Call Love
4. Drizzle
5. The Angels
6. Epilogue
7. Silence Is Your Only Friend
8. Stare It Down
9. Smooth
10. For All I Care
11. The Way You Punish Me
12. Down
13. Melting in the Dark

CD TWO
1. Follow Me (unreleased radio performance)*
2. James River Incident (unreleased demo)*
3. Shelley’s Blues, Pt. 2 (unreleased demo)*
4. Smooth (unreleased demo)*
5. Down (unreleased demo)*
6. Nothing at All (unreleased demo)*
7. Nothing but the Shell (unreleased demo with Eric Ambel)*
8. Silence Is Your Only Friend (unreleased demo)*
9. Stare It Down (unreleased demo)*
10. Swallowed Me Whole (unreleased demo)*
11. The Angels (unreleased demo)*
12. What We Call Love (unreleased demo)*
13. What Would It Take (unreleased demo)*
14. Why (unreleased alternate version with the Pat Thomas band)*
15. The Air That I Breathe*
16. James River Incident (studio outtake)*
17. Make It Up to You (studio outtake)*

Steve Wynn – Sweetness and Light
1. Silver Lining
2. Black Magic
3. Sweetness and Light
4. This Strange Effect
5. This Deadly Game
6. How's My Little Girl
7. Ghosts
8. Blood from A Stone
9. In Love with Everyone
10. The Great Divide
11. That's the Way Love Is
12. If My Life Was an Open Book
13. Black Magic (unreleased demo)*
14. This Deadly Game (unreleased demo)*
15. Ghosts (unreleased demo)*
16. Silver Lining (unreleased demo)*
17. Blood from a Stone (unreleased demo with Gutterball)*

Steve Wynn – My Midnight
CD ONE
1. Nothing but The Shell
2. My Favorite Game
3. Cats and Dogs
4. In Your Prime
5. Mandy Breakdown
6. Lay of The Land
7. Out of This World
8. My Midnight
9. The Mask of Shame
10. We've Been Hanging Out
11. 500 Girl Mornings
12. Ladies and Gentleman*
13. Invisible (unreleased demo with Johnny Hott)*
14. Smoke from a Distant Flame (unreleased Studio G demo)*
15. My Family (Studio G demo)*
16. Don’t Be Afraid (Studio G demo)*
17. Smoke from a Distant Flame (unreleased studio outtake)*

CD TWO

1. My Favorite Game (unreleased demo)*
2. Cats and Dogs (unreleased Studio G demo)*
3. In Your Prime (unreleased Studio G demo)*
4. Mandy Breakdown (unreleased demo)*
5. Lay of the Land (unreleased Studio G demo)*
6. My Midnight (unreleased Studio G demo)*
7. The Mask of Shame (unreleased demo)*
8. We’ve Been Hanging Out (unreleased Studio G demo)*
9. 500 Girl Mornings (unreleased studio G demo)*
10. My Favorite Game (unreleased Studio G demo)*
11. Easy (unreleased demo 1)*
12. Easy (unreleased demo 2)*
13. Halfway to the Afterlife (studio G demo)*
14. Halfway to the Afterlife (unreleased demo)*
15. Invisible (studio G demo)*
16. Lay of the Land (unreleased demo)*
17. The Impossible (Studio G demo)*
18. Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad (studio outtake)*

Steve Wynn ‎– Here Come the Miracles
CD ONE
1. Here Come the Miracles
2. Shades of Blue
3. Sustain
4. Blackout
5. Butterscotch
6. Southern California Line
7. Morningside Heights
8. Let's Leave It Like That
9. Crawling Misanthropic Blues
10. Drought
11. Death Valley Rain
12. Sustain (unreleased demo)*
13. Southern California Line (unreleased demo)*
14. Morningside Heights (unreleased demo)*
15. Death Valley Rain (unreleased demo)*
16. There Will Come a Day Instrumental (unreleased demo)*

CD TWO
1. Strange New World
2. Sunset to The Sea
3. Good and Bad
4. Topanga Canyon Freaks
5. Watch Your Step
6. Charity
7. Smash Myself to Bits
8. There Will Come a Day
9. Watch Your Step (unreleased demo)*
10. Smash Myself to Bits (unreleased demo)*
11. Staten Island (unreleased demo)*
12. Watch Your Step (unreleased demo 2)*
13. Bitch Pants (unreleased studio outtake)*

Steve Wynn ‎– The Emusic Singles Collection
1. Strange New World
2. Last House on The Right (with Johnette Napolitano)
3. The Last One Standing (with Australian Blonde)
4. Milky White (with Eric Ambel)
5. Melinda (with Richard Lloyd)
6. The Way I Feel Right Now (with Barbara Manning)
7. The Devil's Not That Kind (with James Mastro)
8. Merry-Go-Round (with Polar)
9. I Gotta Do Things My Way (with the Miracle 3 and the Turnettes)
10. Shake and Bake (with Gutterball)
11. Down at The Hi-De-Ho (with the Fleshtones)
12. At the End of The Day (with Linda Pitmon)
13. Bait and Switch (unreleased demo)*
14. Claro Que Si (unreleased demo)*
15. Conditions (unreleased demo with Chris Cacavas)*
16. Down at the Hi-De-Ho (unreleased demo)*
17. From a Better Place (unreleased outtake)*
18. I’m Not Listening (unreleased Studio G demo)*

Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 ‎– Static Transmission
CD ONE
1. What Comes After
2. Candy Machine
3. The Ambassador of Soul
4. Keep It Clean
5. Amphetamine
6. California Style
7. One Less Shining Star
8. Maybe Tomorrow
9. Hollywood
10. Charcoal Sunset
11. A Fond Farewell
12. If It Was Easy Everybody Would Do It

CD TWO
1. Riverside (studio outtake)*
2. Nothing Like Anything (studio outtake)*
3. Underneath the Underground (studio outtake)*
4. Timing (studio outtake)*
5. Survival Blues (studio outtake)*
6. Again (studio outtake)*
7. State Trooper (studio outtake) *
8. Benediction (studio outtake)*
9. Underneath the Underground (unreleased demo)*

Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 ‎– ...Tick...Tick...Tick
1. Wired
2. Cindy, It Was Always You
3. Freak Star
4. Killing Me
5. The Deep End
6. Turning of The Tide
7. Bruises
8. Your Secret
9. Wild Mercury
10. All the Squares Go Home
11. No Tomorrow
12. Killing Me (unreleased demo)*
13. Second Best* (from “Fever Pitch”)*
14. Welcome to the New Regime (unreleased studio outtake)*
15. Still Messed Up (unreleased studio outtake)*
16. Bring the Magic (unreleased demo with Chris Cacavas)*