Melting in the Dark is an album by the American musician Steve Wynn, released in 1996.[3][4] It was recorded with a band consisting of all the members of Come.[5] Wynn supported the album by touring with a backing band that included members of Gutterball, Zuzu's Petals, and Love Tractor.[6]
History
Shortly before making the record, bassist Sean O'Brien and drummer Arthur Johnson quit Come, making this album's recording sessions the last time the original lineup of Come recorded together.[7][8] Come was more familiar with Wynn's Dream Syndicate work, which in turn influenced the writing and sound of Melting in the Dark.[9][10] The musicians rehearsed for a day before recording for four days.[11][12] "Shelley's Blues, Pt. 2" alludes to Mike Nesmith's "Some of Shelly's Blues".[13]
Trouser Press wrote: "Although something of a return to the Dream Syndicate’s savage guitar-frenzy, the album is flightier, with dry, laconic vocals, jauntily aggressive tempos and a joyous garage-crud vibe that suggests it was a lot of fun to make."[19] The Chicago Tribune called the album "spare, free-swinging rock studded with sharp hooks."[16] The Orlando Sentinel deemed it "tense but not humorless rock."[18]
Rolling Stone noted that "Come's clamor seems out of place next to Wynn's uninspired retrorock drawl."[20] The Calgary Herald concluded that "Wynn remains an unheralded anti-hero, a rocker who's never been a pretender and shoulda been a contender."[15] The Los Angeles Times determined that "it's at the midway point that Wynn's seething tales of bad love catch fire."[17]
