The Rembrandts are remembered for “I’ll Be There for You,” the theme from “Friends,” but their first hit, “That’s Just The Way It Is,” was far better. It’s a wonderful piece of understated songwriting with a proper story arc (a rarity in post 1960s pop) and a sweet hook. The song—and actually the entire album it came from—was a garage studio demo tape that was deemed good enough to release. While that happens today quite a bit in an era where you can have a multi-million dollar studio on your laptop, that didn’t happen at all back then. The album came out in 1990, just as the LP was being phased out, so it never got a vinyl release in the US. As a result, this copy is from Germany where it goes for about $3 US. There’s a few other interesting tracks on it, like the heavily Elvis Costello-influenced “New King,” but the hit remains the standout song by far.
