Dick Clark sure knew how to get his audience to dress up. This clip from American Bandstand’s heyday shows America’s oldest teenager sitting among the polite crowd, in their party dresses and jackets and ties, before introducing The Doors.
In this black-and-white Classic Video originally broadcast on July 22nd, 1967, The Doors kick things off with “The Crystal Ship.”Clark then interviews the various band members.
Clark: “Ray (Manzarek), let me start with you. How do you characterize your music? Does it have a name?” Manzarek: “Well it’s impossible, really, to put a label on it because of where we are in the music, being on the inside. You’re only of the music and all categories have to come from the outside. So someone else is going to have to say what our music is rather than us because we are our music.”
Clark to Jim Morrison: “Why is so much happening in San Francisco? You figured it out yet?” Lizard king: “Uh, the West is the best.” Clark’s reaction is priceless.
“We’ll do the thing that’s set the whole music business on fire. Ladies and gentlemen… again, the Doors!”
They finish up with “Light My Fire” which was the Number#1 single in the U.S. that week. Though both songs are performed to track, Morrison, Manzarek, Robbie Krieger and John Densmore are pretty convincing. Says Clark: “That has got to be the biggest, most fantastically successful group of the coming year.”
Dick Clark was born on November 30th, 1929. He died on April 18th, 2012, at 82 Years of age.
“I’ll take Manhattan in a garbage bag with Latin written on it that says “It’s hard to give a shit these days…”
Released January 10th in 1989: Lou Reed released his 15th studio album, ‘New York’, on Sire Records..The album received universal critical success upon release, and is widely considered one of Lou’s strongest solo efforts; Lou’s liner notes suggested that the concept album should be auditioned as 57-minute whole, “as though it were a book or a movie”; the single “Dirty Blvd.” was a #1 hit chart for 4 weeks; Velvet Underground drummer Moe Tucker played percussion on 2 tracks; the album’s widespread popularity reignited Lou’s career & helped pave the way for the 1992-93 Velvet Underground reunion tour; ‘New York’ was voted the 3rd best album of 1989.
Indeed, Lou Reed always gave off the vibe of someone who didn’t give a shit – and moreover, someone who didn’t take any shit. But beneath that hip veneer was an artist who cared deeply, and had the talents to express himself and his keenly-felt beliefs in song. He was ready for a new start in 1988 when he began recording his first album for Sire Records after his second stint at RCA had concluded. New York would be an album-length reflection on the city that had been his muse, as gritty and grimy and thrilling as the city itself. Recording with just two guitars, bass, and drums, New York was both an answer to the slick, high-gloss 1980s and an embrace of the primal sound of The Velvet Underground. Upon its release in 1989, Reed’s high-concept, back-to-basics endeavor paid off. New York earned him a No. 1 single and is still recognized as one of the finest and most cohesive of all his solo albums. Rhino has just revisited the album as an expansive 3-CD/2-LP/1-DVD box set with a whopping 26 previously unreleased tracks among its treasures.
The decision was made to primarily record the twin guitars first – singer-songwriter-guitarist-producer Reed on the left channel, Mike Rathke on the right channel – then Reed’s vocals and next, co-producer Fred Maher’s drums. Rob Wasserman would later overdub his bass parts. This approach ensured that Reed’s dense words would be front and centre. The rapid-fire, stream-of-consciousness, near-spoken delivery of “Romeo Had Juliette” set the sonic tone for the album: the backings are tight and spare, and never detract from the lyrics (sometimes in free verse without the expected rhyme scheme) yet are still varied in mood and tempo. Co-producer Maher remembers in David Fricke’s exemplary liner notes that “people were always trying to talk Lou into singing. But knowing what was quintessential Lou, I wanted to put that voice in front of everything.”
New York offers snapshots of the Koch-era city at the brink, playing like a movie in miniature at 57 minutes. That length caused consternation for some Sire executives but hardly seems indulgent in the CD/digital era. Their trepidation over how the album would sound on two sides of vinyl has been rendered moot here, anyway, as it’s presented on two platters (four sides of vinyl) in addition to CD.
Reed’s language is harsh but his attitude is affectionate on “Halloween Parade,” subtitled “AIDS”: “You won’t hear those voices again…you’ll never see those faces again,” he laments. Underneath the cool aura and descriptions of boozers and hookers, Reed underscored the tremendous loss felt by New York’s artistic community due to the scourge of AIDS. His heart-breaking realization that “it makes me mad and mad makes me sad/And then I start to freeze…” epitomizes this haunting reflection.
Reed earned a No. 1 single on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart with “Dirty Blvd.” The three-chord rocker contrasts the rich and the poor in typically frank, blunt terms (“Give me your tired, your poor, I’ll piss on ’em/That’s what the Statue of Bigotry says…”). But Reed’s comes to the fore with the song’s affection for young Pedro, a victim of child abuse living on welfare at the Wilshire Hotel: “He’s found a book on magic in a garbage can/He looks at the pictures and stares at the cracked ceiling/’At the count of three,’ he says, ‘I hope I can disappear, and fly, fly away.” Reed’s pal Dion DiMucci brings a bit of New York verisimilitude as he chimes in on the closing background vocals, touchingly affirming Pedro’s prayer. “Endless Cycle,” too, touches on child abuse and the ravages of drink and drugs over a gentle yet hypnotic, almost country-style gait.
With the aggressive “There Is No Time,” Reed calls for political action. It’s one of the most urgent tracks on New York and like “Dirty Blvd.,” one that speaks loudly in 2020. “This is no time for political speech/This is a time for action/Because the future’s within reach/This is the time,” implores Reed before the song concludes in a barrage of feedback. He’s similarly pointed in the ecologically-minded “Last Great American Whale,” widening his scope to castigate those who would destroy nature.
The bitingly cynical “Busload of Faith” is seemingly a contradiction in terms; Reed observes that “You need a busload of faith to get by” while excoriating those who would profess to espouse faith (“You can’t depend on any churches/Unless there’s a real estate you want to buy”). It’s one of his darkest lyrics set to one of the album’s most accessible melodies and catchiest choruses. To a twangy quasi-country beat, a Dylan-esque flow of words, and a poppy refrain, “Sick of You” is startlingly recognizable today as Reed name-checks the Trumps and then-prosecutor Rudy Giuliani among the characters in its increasingly surreal narrative.
On the back cover of the original LP, Reed urged listeners to play New York in one sitting from start to finish, “as though it were a book or movie” – or a play. On the tour supporting the album, Reed staged five performances on Broadway at the St. James Theatre, which most recently housed the musical Frozen until the outbreak of COVID-19. The surroundings of the St. James would almost certainly have heightened the inherent theatricality of the song cycle. The imagery of the “Statue of Bigotry” recurs in “Hold On,” an encapsulation of the darkness that had enveloped the city and that he had catalogued throughout New York. “You better hold on – something’s happening here,” he intones over a churning but energetic rock rhythm. That darkness, alas, hasn’t abated; the lyric mentions Michael Stewart and Eleanor Bumpurs, two African-Americans shot by police in 1983 and 1984, respectively.
It’s hard not to draw comparisons between Reed’s turbulent portrayal of New York circa the late eighties with current events today. On “Xmas in February,” the artist demands attention to be paid to disenfranchised veterans. Classic rock riffage abounds on “Strawman,” an anthem decrying racism, hypocrisy, and the “greed is good” mentality (“Does anyone really need another President, or the sins of Swaggart Parts 6, 7, 8 and 9/Does anyone need another politician caught with his pants down, money sticking in his hole?”). He takes further aim at hypocrisy on the punk-ish inner monologue “Good Evening Mr. Waldheim,” pointing his finger not just at the diplomat Kurt Waldheim (whose career ended in a swirl of revelations about his complicity in Nazi war crimes) but also the Pontiff, Jesse Jackson, and Louis Farrakhan.
Yet it’s not all sturm und drang. Reed co-wrote “Beginning of a Great Adventure” with Mike Rathke. Over a jazz-inflected, finger-snapping backing, the singer turns to the personal, ruminating on parenthood with wry humour. (Reed had no children.) New York ends on a nostalgic note with “Dime Store Mystery,” subtitled “To Andy-honey.” The Velvet Underground’s Maureen Tucker dropped in on drums for this elegiac but jagged, pensive salute to their old friend Warhol who had died in 1987 at just 58 years old. This track was recorded live by Reed, Rathke, and Wasserman with Tucker.
The wealth of supplemental material explores New York from every angle. The second disc reprises the album’s fourteen tracks in sequence from various live performances again featuring Rathke and Wasserman. On these dates (Washington, DC; Baltimore; London; Richmond, Virginia; Copenhagen; and Upper Darby (outside Philadelphia), PA) which are assembled in the manner of a single concert, Reed and his band played New York for Act One, and a “greatest hits” encore set for Act Two, but that encore is not represented on this disc. The live take on “Dime Store Mystery” from the Virginia show has Maureen Tucker guesting. (She and her band Half Japanese opened one leg of the tour.)
A live show from the same 1989 tour, recorded in Montreal, Canada, is included on DVD but again only has Act One of Reed’s touring show. (It was previously available only on VHS and Laserdisc as The New York Album.) Reed clearly believed in these songs, uncompromisingly sharing them from city to city and in doing so, revealing the universal truths that propelled them. Though his vocals were often detached, there’s no doubt in these visceral and utterly confident audio and video performances that he believed every word and knew how to communicate them to an appreciative audience. In addition to the concert, the DVD also contains two audio bonuses: the entire album in high-resolution stereo, and a chat with the late artist.
The third CD compiles 14 rarities and previously unreleased tracks including rough mixes, work tapes, alternates, the single remix of “Romeo Had Juliette” and its acoustic B-side version of “Busload of Faith,” the non-LP side “The Room,” and live versions of The Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane” and Reed’s solo hit “Walk on the Wild Side” from the Richmond second act encore. Both “Dirty Blvd.” and “Sick of You” are heard in two versions: first, mainly instrumental demos from August 1st, 1988 and then in rough mixes from late in the month made at NYC’s Mediasound studio. These tracks – many of which were sourced from cassettes now residing in the Lou Reed Archive at the New York Library for the Performing Arts – collectively illustrate how seriously Reed took the recording and compositional aspects of his music; on the work tape of “Endless Cycle,” he sings the bass and drum parts as he envisions them. There’s terrific energy even on the simple instrumental take of “Last Great American Whale” from a work tape of Reed and Rathke rehearsing. The frequently raw rough mixes are equally compelling. Some lack central elements of the finished mixes such as the drums on “Sick of You,” while others like “Strawman” are strong and seemingly finished in their own right. (Tantalizingly, the notes and images show that more demos and rehearsals relating to New York exist within the Archive, though it’s difficult to argue with the curated selection here.)
It’s no surprise that New York sounds so good on this deluxe set, as it was recorded and mixed by Jeffrey Lesser whose diverse credits include Rupert Holmes’ Widescreen, Barbra Streisand’s LazyAfternoon, and Strawbs’ Deep Cuts. (Lesser even provided some background vocals with Reed.) The stellar remaster comes courtesy of the set’s co-producer, Bill Inglot, and Dan Hersch. The 3 CDs, 2 LPs, and 1 DVD are housed in what’s by now a familiar Rhino format, the LP-sized hardcover. The full-sized 16-page booklet has David Fricke’s essay, archivist Don Fleming’s notes, lyrics, original credits, and copious images.
New York just might be Lou Reed’s most powerful solo statement. More than 30 years on, it’s more relevant than ever as it captures the energy, drama, violence, tension, excitement, sadness, and passion that still animate the city. Rhino’s deluxe reissue makes for a worthwhile trip back to that dirty boulevard.
British indie band Goat Girl will kick off 2021 with a brand new album, “On All Fours”. We have already heard lead single “Sad Cowboy” and today brings the arrival of its follow-up, “The Crack.”
Produced by Dan Carey, “The Crack” is written from the perspective of someone starting a new life on a planet free from the problems and injustices facing the one we currently share. The whirl of synths and buzzing guitars remain a constant from the band’s 2018 debut but there’s a new found space and authority to Goat Girl on “The Crack” as they look increasingly outwards in their songwriting. Naturally, for a song about our close relationship with our climate, the band headed to the shore to film “The Crack” video. All four members of the group, plus a selection of dancers, donned the wild outfits you can see below in an effort to portray a journey through a land lost to time.
Speaking about the new song, lead vocalist L.E.D. told us “‘The Crack’ emerged from an imagined post-apocalyptic world whereby people flee into space for a new life on an unruined planet, as the result of the pillaging of Earth. This song transformed from a simple electronic demo with synth bass and electronic drums, to the embellished version that it is now. For recording, we kept it in the family, enlisting Lottie’s Dad Nic Pendlebury to play viola and our good friend Charlie Loane to play trumpet on the chorus, further expanding the collaborative feel of the track. The music video made by Lottie’s sister, Molly Pendlebury, was filmed over two days at Botany Bay, where we shuffled barefoot across the beautifully rugged landscape. The masks and costumes made by Molly really add a surreal edge and a comical undertone to the video.”
On All Fours is out on January 29th via Rough Trade Records.
Death Valley Girls have again dipped into their sacred well of mystical music, pulling from its murky waters a new incantation with a sweeping title, “The Universe,” and their deliciously droney sound (with some twists). Yes, it still feels as if the L.A. quartet is casting spells as much as making rock ’n’ roll.
With 2018 album Darkness Rains, Los Angeles garage rockers Death Valley Girls gave us a clever flat-Earther parody and the unforgettable image of Iggy Pop eating a hamburger, Andy Warhol-style. Today they’re back to announce their new album Under the Spell Of Joy. This time there’s no comparable iconic imagery attached to speak of — unless you count their incredible new band photo below — but lead single “The Universe” more than holds its own as a blast of hypnotic, sax-blaring rock ‘n’ roll.
The band’s Bonnie Bloomgarden offered this statement on the new album, which was initially inspired by Ethiopian funk records, and “The Universe” in particular:
Under the Spell of Joy is a space-gospel record. We believe we served as channels for what we think are guides. As we learn what the songs are about we realize they are meant to be sang like chants, hymns, or spells. Most of the songs were recorded with 12 voices, including a kids choir! We are learning that words with intention and energy hold so much power, especially when said or sang with a group. “The Universe” is a song to sing, a space to be, a time to think, remember, and truly feel that not only are we all connected, but we are also being guided.
Death Valley Girls“Under the Spell of Joy” out October 2nd, 2020, on Suicide Squeeze Records
The Hold Steady have announced their eighth studio album, “Open Door Policy”. The new record will be released on their own Positive Jams label on February 19th, 2021. In addition to the album announcement, the band also shared the first single, “Family Farm.”
“Songs are created a bunch of different ways in The Hold Steady, but to me, our most classic songs are driving rock songs with piano breaks,” said singer Craig Finn of the new single (via press release). “‘Family Farm’ fits the bill. The genesis of the song was the guitar riff that starts it. Tad Kubler played a home demo for me and our producer Josh Kaufman, and we thought it was worth pursuing. At this point it had the working title ‘August’. We brought it to the band and Franz had the idea for the bridge. This seemed like a ‘scene change’ of sorts, and gave the song more depth and intrigue. We recorded it in December 2019 at the Clubhouse in upstate NY, just after our annual run of shows at the Brooklyn Bowl. Our friends Stuart Bogie and Jordan McLean added horns a bit later. I was personally happy to get a mention of Van Halen’s ‘Eruption’ in the lyrics, and I appreciate it even more after Eddie Van Halen’s unfortunate recent passing. Overall, it feels like a song that will be fun to play live – uptempo, dynamic, and a chorus with shout-along potential.”
The album was recorded at The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, N.Y. It was produced by Kaufman and engineered by D. James Goodwin. In addition to The Hold Steady, the album features Stuart Bogie and Jordan McLean on horns, Cassandra Jenkins and Annie Nero on backup vocals, and Matt Barrick on percussion.
“Open Door Policy was very much approached as an album vs. a collection of individual songs, and it feels like our most musically expansive record,” said Finn. “This album was written and almost entirely recorded before the pandemic started, but the songs and stories explore power, wealth, mental health, technology, capitalism, consumerism, and survival – issues which have compounded in 2020.”
The unveiling of Open Door Policy comes on the heels of the band’s announcement of their virtual Massive Nights shows at Brooklyn Bowl. “Set for December 3rd, 4th, and 5th, this very special Massive Nights will be live-streamed around the world, allowing everyone everywhere to raise a glass and sing a favourite song alongside fellow fans far and wide,” read a press release.
What we’re possibly more excited about is ending 2020 by bringing you new music and starting off 2021 with a brand new album! Open Door Policy is our 8th studio album and will be released on February 19th, 2021 via our own label, Positive Jams, in association with Thirty Tigers. You can pre-order it here! http://shop.theholdsteady.net We recorded Open Door Policy in two different sessions in the back half of 2019. Once again we teamed with producer Josh Kaufman and engineer Dan Goodwin, this time at the Clubhouse studio in upstate NY. Our intention was to create an album that worked as a grand piece, rather than a collection of songs. 2019 was an active year for The Hold Steady — our writing was consistent, and new songs were coming in pretty regularly. The recording process was creative, open and fun. We were pretty much done with the record by the time we played a few of the new songs in London the first week of March 2020, as the unease of the pandemic was setting in. Not long after we got back from London, NYC shut down and we began to see our 2020 shows postponed. Over the next months, it became obvious that timing this album’s release to specific weekend celebrations wouldn’t be a possibility in the near future. But we were still excited to share it. The songs on Open Door Policy are about power, wealth, & mental health.
They’re about technology, occupation, consumerism, freedom, fandom and escape. And although the album was written and recorded in 2019, the themes of this record seem to be underscored and highlighted by this year of virus and quarantine. Big thanks to Dave McLaughlin for his photo on the album cover, which appears above. “Family Farm” is the first song from the album we’re sharing. It originated from a demo Tad brought in, with Franz adding a classic THS bridge. Our friends Stuart Bogie and Jordan McLean came in with the horns. The song even includes a mention of the great Eddie Van Halen solo “Eruption”, an unintended tribute to a great rock hero in light of his recent passing.
TRACKLIST: The Feelers Spices Lanyards Family Farm Unpleasant Breakfast Heavy Covenant The Prior Procedure RiptownMe & Magdalena Hanover Camera Parade Days
Available on limited edition colored vinyl (blue!), standard vinyl, and limited edition CD. You will receive an instant grat of “Family Farm” with your purchase and digital download of the full album on release date, February 19th, 2021. Of course we have lots of other new Open Door Policy goodies to order with the music at The Hold Steady online shops: t-shirts, infant clothing, winter hats and anything you may have missed. To celebrate the new album and Massive Nights 2020, we’re running a sale in The Hold Steady online shops.
Thanks for listening. Thanks for understanding. We’re really glad that you’re here.
Slow Pulp’s remarkable full-length debut Moveys is a testament to hard-fought personal growth. In the process of making their new record, the Chicago-based indie rock band powered through health challenges, personal upheaval, and a pandemic, all while learning how to be better songwriters and friends. Full of blistering energy and emotional catharsis, this compelling 10-track collection highlights the band’s resourcefulness and resilience to come together even when they were states away.
Slow Pulp’s journey towards their debut album has been an unexpected one for the Chicago band. Through personal tragedies and health issues, “Moveys” became something entirely different from what the band had initially planned. The initial blow being singer Emily Massey receiving a diagnosis of Lyme disease and chronic mono. To add further insult, one week before the pandemic loomed, Massey’s parents were involved in a serious car crash.
But out of this personal upheaval, their debut album was formed through the most difficult of circumstances and as a result is a telling testament towards the collectivism within Slow Pulp. Through these experiences and writing simultaneously Massey was able to find space to process her thoughts and undergo a healing process. That process is transcendent throughout the record and a key crux as to how their music can have such profound effect. With some of the album’s material being recorded and written after lockdown, you would think that there would be a bit of a logistical headache when trying to piece an album together. Although an isolated experience wasn’t too different to their usual process as Emily explains. “We write separately from each other and usually send ideas through a Google Drive link. So, it wasn’t too crazy different, I did end up recording my vocals with my dad, which was really fun, he engineered my vocals”.
Writing with her dad Michael provided a mutual sense of healing between the pair. This is cemented on Whispers (In The Outfield), a wonderful instrumental track that merges piano and synth to create something which sounds texturally ethereal yet manages to maintain a very human level of wonderment and warmth. “That was the first piece of music that he played since the accident. Just the fact that he was able to work on the album with me was pretty special after an event where he almost lost his life” Emily said.
Shoegaze was one particular tag that the band were given after their earlier work, yet Moveys is much more dynamic in the genres it pays homage to. Their evolution was not planned as guitarist/producer Henry explained, “It was kind of an accident. We all kind of projected that it was going to be pretty heavy and blown out and it just didn’t happen like that. It wasn’t a conscious decision; I think we were following our gut”. One of their biggest achievements as a result of following this instinct is that Moveys has a consistent tone throughout yet each track still maintains a sense of individualism.
Absolutely delicious indie-rock that hits the perfect balance of complexity and straightforward song writing excellence.
Poster artist Justin Helton releases the newest screen print in his Grateful Dead Milestones series the Europe ’72 Tour! The series highlights “Milestone” moments of the Dead’s career.
This isn’t a reject from Raw Power. It came out in 1977 after Raw Power on the demo record released by Iggy Pop and James Williamson. This is actually the original mix of this track from the demo tape of the “Kill City” record that was sent out in the hope of getting them signed. From what I understand they sent this version out to labels, they then remixed the album when it got released as Kill City on the Bomp! label and Williamson released a remaster recently. Of the original mixes, this is one of the only tracks available to us through compilations such as this (Original Punks) and it fucking rules in my opinion.
“Down but not out, Iggy and James record lost treasure in decadent L.A.” This current remastered edition derives from the rediscovered masters and was prepared for release by James Williamson, who again tours with the Stooges in 2010. Since the Stooges circle has been squared its only fitting that this missing link be finally, beautifully restored for posterity. – KC Press
“The sound is 100% clearer, the levels are pushed and the instruments stretch and slide at higher, bulkier levels. This is a Detroit rawk muscle record as it was meant to be heard 33 years ago. All raucous garage born out of sweat, blood and bad times.” – WNnG
Kill City is Iggy Pop and James Williamson’s often overlooked, yet ultimately essential album. Originally recorded in 1975 and later released by Bomp! in ’77, critics have long lauded the songs and performances but have also regarded the overall sound as “sludgy.” The sound quality of Kill City was compromised from the get-go, as it originally suffered from a bad pressing (on the infamous green vinyl), and over the years the quality of the record itself managed to get even worse. When the original distributor went out of business, the 2-track album production masters vanished and every subsequent pressing of the album – on record, cassette and CD – used a copy of that deficient green vinyl as its master.
Now 33 years later, here is the long overdue restored, re-mixed and remastered version of this historically important record. Producer James Williamson remixed the album with engineer Ed Cherney at Capitol Records in Hollywood, and as the guitarist states, “He just made this record sound, well, like it should have sounded all along. It has finally reached its full potential.”
I like what this album has to say.
It is rather high concept, and the music is well thought out.
It adheres to no particular genre.
A lot of people have borrowed its ideas.
It’s one of the very first independent LPs I know of.
I hope you like it.
— IGGY POP
Kill City was by all measures a desperate effort, a singularly honest and heartfelt performance, a genuine progression of our song writing, and another in a long line of flops that were later resurrected and heralded as masterpieces. By the time it was released as a record, both Iggy and I were off doing other things with our lives, but with this re-release we are not only reunited in our musical endeavors but in our appreciation of this album, its remix, and its importance to us as artists.
— JAMES WILLIAMSON
RESTORED, RE-MIXED & REMASTERED edition, approved for the first time by both Iggy Pop and James Williamson. New Clear Red Vinyl Limited Edition of 150
The Smashing Pumpkins released their new album, “Cyr”, which marks the second studio project from the mostly-reunited line-up. The core group of Billy Corgan, James Iha, and Jimmy Chamberlin previously came together in 2018 the follow-up to 2018’s Rick Rubin–produced “Shiny And Oh So Bright Vol. 1: No Past. No Future. No Sun”.
Billy Corgan has produced the Smashing Pumpkins’ Cyr, is also the second project from the group since Corgan reunited with founding band members. A double album, it’s also accompanied by a five-part animated series titled “In Ashes” which pairs the singles with a linear storyline of a dystopian society. The fourth installment, “Owl Wait“, premiered on Tuesday and the fifth has yet to be revealed. With Billy Corgan having overseen numerous works of myth-laden grunge rock and spent much of the past decade releasing chunks and snippets of an unfinished 44-song concept album called Teargarden By Kaleidyscope,
This album’s release marks the latest checkmark for The Smashing Pumpkins, who have ramped up production on a bevy of new projects. Last month, the band revealed plans for a sequel to their classic 2000’s Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, as well as an elaborate 25th Anniversary tour whenever such a feat is possible. Corgan has also stated that Cyr is merely part two of a three-album cycle that began with Shiny And Oh So Bright and will come to a conclusion with a future record.
Apparently bassist D’arcy Wretzky has claimed she was excluded from sessions, in interviews detailing the unbearable stresses of being in the band in the 90s. While Iha’s guitars remain satisfyingly gnarled for most of the 20 tracks on Cyr, Corgan’s runic lyricism (Minerva is named after the Roman goddess of war, Ramona and Wyttch come packed with hexes and spell-craft) largely comes attached to upbeat, enigmatic synth-pop. It’s kind of Arcadian electro, There are moments of harder hitting electro-rock, such as Wyttch and The Colour Of Love, and even some industrial grinding on Anno Satana (which translates as – gulp – ‘year of Satan’),
And the traditional comeback nostalgia tour – the Pumpkins’ will be themed around their Melon Collie And The Infinite Sadness commercial peak – will have to wait until the release of a 33-track concept album sequel to Melon Collie and 2000’s Machina/The Machines Of God, due in 2021.
Back in August, The Smashing Pumpkins began releasing singles from the 20-track album on a regular basis. In all, the 90s pop-grunge powerhouse put out eight singles ahead of the official release of Cyr.
Taken together, all of the singles and In Ashes episodes delivered fragments of the Cyr picture. In these pieces of the portrait, The Smashing Pumpkins are shown to be looking ahead based on the futuristic, techno-pop influences found on many of the singles.
However, on songs like “Wyttch”, the band is still able to tap into the heavier influences that fans identify them with from the 1990s. With the full release of Cyr, audiences can now hear how all of these influences fit together to carve the path forward for the group.
Double album, CYR, coming Friday, November 27th, via Sumerian Records.
On this day (November. 28th) in 1980: The Jam released their 5th studio album, ‘Sound Affects’, on Polydor Records…(This photo: my Canadian pressing of the album signed l-r by Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton & Rick Buckler…) It featured the group’s second UK #1 single, “Start!”; as well as other excellent Jam gems such as the funky “Pretty Green”, the raging “Set The House Ablaze”, ballad “That’s Entertainment” & the horn-driven “Boy About Town”; one side of the cover design was a pastiche of the artwork used on various sound effects records produced by the BBC during the ’70s; Paul Weller later cited it as his favourite Jam album in a BBC documentary; in 2006, ‘Q’ magazine ranked it #15 in its list of ‘The 40 Best Albums of the ’80s’…
