Maybe it wasn’t the most anticipated dual album release ever—I think Guns N’ Roses have a lock on that—but the simultaneous release of Kristin Hersh’s most recent solo album, The Grotto, and the Throwing Muses reunion album was cause for celebration. Of course, whenever any artist releases two albums on the same day, they should expect everyone to draw comparisons between the two. As someone who came to the Muses through Hersh’s solo material, I was looking forward to The Grotto more so than the Throwing Muses album, but in the end it’s the rougher, harder-edged album that won me over. For a lot of critics, the opposite occured, which may speak to their higher expectations for Throwing Muses than The Grotto.

It’s unlikely that the Muses will ever release another album; despite the self-titled album’s creative successes, Hersh and company have always characterized Throwing Muses as a proper send-off for the band, unceremoniously dissolved in the mid-90s because they ran out of money. They certainly succeeded; Throwing Muses was louder, faster and more visceral than their back catalog, as if the band had somehow gotten younger in the intervening decade. It’s unfortunate that because of the time gap between the band’s last two albums, Throwing Muses is likely to become one of those overlooked classics years from now, as future critics highlight The Real Ramona and University instead.