Happy Anniversary: Better Than Ezra, How Does Your Garden Grow?

18 years ago this week, Better Than Ezra released their third album on Elektra Records, an effort which found the band shifting into different musical territories and seemingly finding themselves creatively reinvigorated in the process.

BTE fans got a preview of How Does Your Garden Grow? when “One More Murder” was included on the soundtrack to the first X-Files feature film, and there was little question that the band was delving into darker territory, but it was easy to write off the darkness as being appropriate for the film. It soon became evident, however, that the band was intentionally staring into the abyss, with their new album offering a subtitle: “A Series of Nocturnes.”

Critics embraced How Does Your Garden Grow? and gave Better Than Ezra some of their best reviews of their career up to that point, but listeners found themselves experiencing a bit more trepidation, with the album only hitting #128 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart before beginning its descent. Although “One More Murder” didn’t scare up much action, the album’s subsequent single, “At the Stars,” proved to be a hit on both Modern Rock and Adult Top 40 radio, later getting a second leash on life when it was covered by Howie Day.

Alas, the critical acclaim for the album wasn’t enough to keep Better Than Ezra on the Elektra roster, but when looking at the band’s back catalog, it’s easily arguable that How Does Your Garden Grow? remains one of the best albums in the bunch.