Understand that Key Lime Pie had a replacement violinist. Originally the violin was integral to CVB's sound: half the tracks were instrumentals on the early albums. Long story short: Virgin wanted hits which require lyrics, violinist and all-around string guy Jonathan Segel left, vestigial violins came onto the KLP and it stopped gelling.
Meanwhile, Zen Arcade remains one of my favorite albums of all time. I wrote a treatise about it for an honors philosophy class: I had to xerox the inside of the album so I could transcribe the lyrics (back in 1994). I wound up putting the lyrics online because no one else had. I called the album a Hegelian romp, but that's most of what I remember from the paper.
Sometime I should try to write up a better explanation of that album. Even though tracks 1, 2 and 4 from Metal Circus are far more intense and meaningful as a standalone piece, Zen Arcade takes you all the way through.
I listened to that Love & Rockets s/t on cassette repeatedly during high school. I really only liked a couple tracks, and mostly for their changes. "Motorcycle" changes while the singing... hmmm, come to think of it, maybe it's just singer's the heroin fix kicking in.
Come to think of it, the Bauhaus and L&R continuum is a slow slide into a leather bean bag. You see the shiny and the black, but then you realize you're stuck to a bag on the floor and you're covered in rug lint. Your description of dentist-chair fail really hits the mark, whether I want to accept that emotionally.
Sure, Key Lime Pie had a different violinist, but I'm not sure that's the reason for the change of sound. Judging from Morgan Fichter's fiddle-playing in Harm Farm, she had plenty of interest in the sort of violin parts Segel wrote. (And my memory of seeing them in concert is that she tore it up on the old songs, though who knows whether current-day me would think so.)
It seems to me like Key Lime Pie has a lot of the kind of songs David Lowery would write for Cracker after CvB broke up, so I figure he's the one who drove the change. Dunno, though!
According to the Virgin years section on Wikipedia (for what that's worth), it was the producer driving for more Lowery.
You saw them live? I am cccccrraaaazzzzyyyy envious! I love that band to pieces. I'm even tolerant of New Roman Times -- it never quite sells me as a whole, but it works as a bunch of songs.
Meanwhile, Zen Arcade remains one of my favorite albums of all time. I wrote a treatise about it for an honors philosophy class: I had to xerox the inside of the album so I could transcribe the lyrics (back in 1994). I wound up putting the lyrics online because no one else had. I called the album a Hegelian romp, but that's most of what I remember from the paper.
Sometime I should try to write up a better explanation of that album. Even though tracks 1, 2 and 4 from Metal Circus are far more intense and meaningful as a standalone piece, Zen Arcade takes you all the way through.
I listened to that Love & Rockets s/t on cassette repeatedly during high school. I really only liked a couple tracks, and mostly for their changes. "Motorcycle" changes while the singing... hmmm, come to think of it, maybe it's just singer's the heroin fix kicking in.
Come to think of it, the Bauhaus and L&R continuum is a slow slide into a leather bean bag. You see the shiny and the black, but then you realize you're stuck to a bag on the floor and you're covered in rug lint. Your description of dentist-chair fail really hits the mark, whether I want to accept that emotionally.
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It seems to me like Key Lime Pie has a lot of the kind of songs David Lowery would write for Cracker after CvB broke up, so I figure he's the one who drove the change. Dunno, though!
Reply
You saw them live? I am cccccrraaaazzzzyyyy envious! I love that band to pieces. I'm even tolerant of New Roman Times -- it never quite sells me as a whole, but it works as a bunch of songs.
Reply
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