HOLLYWOOD, CA. (Top40 Charts/ Capitol/ EMI) - The Vines' top hits and album tracks spanning the band's three studio releases between 2002 and 2006 have been gathered for the first time for The Best Of The Vines, to be released March 11 by Capitol/EMI. The new CD and digital collection features 16 tracks, including "Factory," the single that first put them on the international music map, the 90-second title track from the band's gold-certified debut album, Highly Evolved, and the
Modern Rock chart hits "Get Free," "Ride" and "Outtathaway."
Following a few years of local success in their hometown of Sydney, Australia, The Vines were discovered internationally in 2001. Originally comprised of lead vocalist and guitarist Craig Nicholls, bassist and vocalist Patrick Matthews and drummer David Oliffe, the trio selected its name to honor Nicholls' father's 1960s band, The Vynes.
In 2002, following the recording of the band's first album, Highly Evolved, with producer Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith), Oliffe left the band and guitarist Ryan Griffiths and drummer Hamish Rosser joined the line-up. Heralded by influential UK and US music press as a hot new arrival, The Vines stormed America with a Coachella Festival debut in April, followed by Highly Evolved's release by Capitol Records in July. The album's burst of a title track, along with its Top 10 Modern Rock hit, "Get Free" and Top 20 Modern Rock single, "Getouttathaway," announced The Vines' arrival with a firm kick. The band's 2001 single, "Factory," was also included on the gold-certified debut, which peaked at No 11 on Billboard's Top 200 and Top Internet Albums charts.
Winning Days followed in March 2004. By then, Nicholls had long been making headlines for erratic behavior and an extended public unraveling that was viewed by many as inexcusable petulance, alienating some of the band's most ardent fans. The album's single "Ride" hit No 13 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart (and was later featured in a 2007 Nissan TV ad campaign). Soon after the release, the band was forced to scrap its tour dates as Nicholls spiraled deeper into an alarming crisis. With the support of his bandmates and family, Nicholls sought help and was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, and immediately began ongoing treatment.
In a return to the group's origins as a trio, The Vines' Nicholls, Hamish and Griffiths returned to the studio in 2005 to record Vision Valley, the band's most recent album. They set up at a small studio in Sydney with Australian producer Wayne Connolly (You Am I), and the album's April 2006 release revealed a rejuvenated Nicholls in great musical form, no doubt bolstered by the sessions' positive and familiar creative environment.
The Best Of The Vines (CD & Digital Album):
1. Get Free
2. Ride
3. Highly Evolved
4. Winning Days
5. Outtathaway
6. Autumn Shade
7. Autumn Shade II
8. Factory
9. Animal Machine
10. Don't Listen To The Radio
11. Vision Valley
12. Homesick
13. F.T.W.
14. Spaceship
15. Anysound
16. Sun Child
