Yes, Hydra Head has been pumping out the reissues of late (look to Botch having American Nervoso and We are the Romans re-released in super updated formats just recently and yeah I know this review is late), but this reissue not only includes the entirety of the original release for There is Nothing New Under the Sun but it also gives, for your listening pleasure, the songs from the split with Boy Sets Fire, their Get Up Kids cover (which was previously vinyl only), their cover of Undertow's "Cutting Away," an early version of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut," and two of the Led Zeppelin songs with new vocal recordings. The artwork is also completely new and rather excellent, which also adds to the overall presentation of the release that neatly puts a great deal of Coalesce material in one neat little package.
As for the actual music on There is Nothing New Under the Sun, listeners are privy to a variety of covers and one original. The original, "Bob Junior" was originally released on the CD version of the split that Coalesce did with Boy Sets Fire, and is an acoustic song that shows a different side of the band than what listeners are used to hearing from the group. The Led Zeppelin covers really show how powerful those songs could be in a modern type context; Coalesce does not embarrass themselves with the batch, although, the vocals on the versions of "Thank You" and "That's the Way" can induce some cringing. But these are the two that have new vocal recordings via the "Redux" versions, which are quite a bit more palatable. The version of "Supernaut" on this record suffers from a horrible mixing job, which makes it ultimately skip-able if you own the vinyl version. It is awesome to finally have the Coalesce version of Undertow's "Cutting Away." If you do not know who they are, Indecision Records recently put out their discography, which is another fun record to listen.
Truthfully, There is Nothing New Under the Sun is a fun record to listen to, which many people lose sight of (especially people who review bunches of records) in the process of listening to music. The real bonus with this re-release is that it wraps up a bunch of loose ends into an easy to get package. All of this has been released prior (except for the vocal redux versions of the slower Led Zeppelin songs), so if you have those, this might not be necessary. However, if you do not own all of this and enjoy Coalesce in any way, shape, or form, pick this album up at some point.
