May 30, 2012

RhoDeo 1222 Aetix


Hello, Aetix again, Bauhaus became Goth progenitors on acccounnt of their remarkable debut single an hommage to the Hollywood king of the undead..Bela Lugosi, 9 minutes of creepy horror on vinyl set them on a path they probaly never intended, so when they folded in 84, the band that sprang from it's ashes, Love And Rockets build on a very different, big sky almost psychedelic sound. Leaving their former lead singer Murphy behind, they quickly became remarkably successful on both sides of the Atlantic and released a number of well recieved albums in the secend half of the eighties... plenty to enjoy here

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After Bauhaus' breakup, Murphy formed Dali's Car with Japan's Mick Karn and then pursued a solo career. Ash continued with Tones on Tail, a project he began in 1981; Kevin Haskins also joined the band after Bauhaus' split. J made some solo records and joined the Jazz Butcher briefly. After a proposed Bauhaus reunion fell apart because Peter Murphy wasn't interested in the project, as he had embarked on a solo career, Daniel Ash (guitars, saxophone, and vocals), David J (bass and vocals) and Kevin Haskins (drums, synthesizers), came together as Love and Rockets, despite their previous band's status as gothic rock icons, L & R moved away from that genre, as demonstrated by their first minor hit being a cover of the Motown classic "Ball of Confusion," .Their first album release, Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven (1985), leaned more towards psychedelic music and Beatle-esque pop. Rich in sonic detail, the neo-psychedelic Express offers a listening experience like no other album -- guitars spiral to dizzying heights from beds of sound, arrangements swirl, songs change and mutate.  John A. Rivers (who also co-produced Love and Rockets' first album) outdoes himself with the sound on this disc, offering a huge, unique canvas for the band to paint its sound on: crystalline acoustic guitars cut through thick, distorted tones, and the bass is an equal player to the guitars and drums.The 1987 follow up Earth, Sun, Moon had a folkier sound and spawned the minor hit "No New Tale to Tell."

In 1989 the band released a self-titled album that presented a more AOR sound. The second single from the album was the T. Rex-inspired song "So Alive." It became a surprise hit, reaching No. 3 on the American singles chart, After a grueling tour schedule in support of their big hit, Love and Rockets took a few years off concentrating on solo projects before returning to the studio together. The result was a move into a much more electronic sound. Their label, RCA Records, unaware of the UK contemporairy sound, dropped them. L & R signed with Rick Rubin's American Recordings to release Hot Trip To Heaven (1994), followed in 1996 by Sweet F.A.. The albums didn't prove a commercial success, and when Lift came out in 1998 on Red Ant Records it was their last, and the band disbanded in 1999.

With the careers of both Love and Rockets and Peter Murphy at a standstill, Bauhaus re-formed for several live dates in Los Angeles, mounting a full-blown tour in 1998; the two-disc Gotham documented the reunited group's performance at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom. Bauhaus reunited again in 2005, they embarked on a full tour beginning in North America and Mexico in the Autumn of 2005 and ending in Europe in February 2006. In May 2006 the band toured with Nine Inch Nails on the summer leg of their tour. ‘Go Away White’ was recorded in 18 days at Zircon Skye in Ojai, with singer Peter Murphy, bassist David J, guitarist Daniel Ash, and drummer Kevin Haskins playing together as a band in one room, taking first takes as final cuts. So, a new record but apparently a final one, the band having decided to release it as a posthumous swan song....no news since.

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Though the years have deadened its impact somewhat, there is still a visceral thrill to be drawn from replaying the first Love and Rockets album, a sense of the first step taken towards a brave new world, and a miasmic whirl of psychedelic intent that masks intents even darker than the preceding Bauhaus ever envisioned. Recorded and released in 1985, riding to club acclaim on the back of the "Ball of Confusion" remake, and aligning its makers with a destiny and fame that no one could ever have predicted, Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven ranks among the most deceptive debut albums of the 1980s. The keys to the album remain the same, of course -- the churning guitar soup of "The Dog-End of a Day Gone By," the sibilant glam sexuality of the title track, the chilling nursery rhyme pendulum of "The Game." But the opiate atmosphere that chokes the wide open spaces leavened within every song only thickens by the time you hit the closing acoustics of "Saudade," and Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven emerges as profound an experience as any of the lauded trips of the original psychedelic era. It rounds out the experience with dramatic flair, pinpointing the sheer creativity that was sparking around Love and Rockets at the dawn of their decade-long career.


Love And Rockets - Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven ( flac 502mb)

01 If There's A Heaven Above 4:57
02 A Private Future 5:06
03 The Dog-End Of A Day Gone By 7:38
04 The Game 5:09
05 Seventh Dream Of A Teenage Heaven 6:37
06 Haunted When The Minutes Drag 8:03
07 Saudade 5:00
Singles
08 Ball Of Confusion (12" UK Mix) 7:20
09 Inside The Outside 4:22
10 If There's A Heaven Above (12" UK Mix) 7:00
11 God And Mr. Smith 4:49
Mixes
12 Haunted When The Minutes Drag (USA Mix) 4:32
13 If There's A Heaven Above (Canada Mix) 4:26

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Rich in sonic detail, the neo-psychedelic Express offers a listening experience like no other album -- guitars spiral to dizzying heights from beds of sound, arrangements swirl, songs change and mutate. "Kundalini Express" typifies Love and Rockets' approach, chugging along for several verses before breaking open and ascending into the heavens; Anglo-fied Eastern religious imagery and philosophy predominate lyrically, and in tandem with the psychedelic music, offer an almost quasi-religious experience. John A. Rivers (who also co-produced Love and Rockets' first album) outdoes himself with the sound on this disc, offering a huge, unique canvas for the band to paint its sound on: crystalline acoustic guitars cut through thick, distorted tones, and the bass is an equal player to the guitars and drums. "Yin and Yang the Flower Pot Man" is ecstatically upbeat, offering a propulsive rhythm, flailing guitars, and insistent bass -- a compulsively danceable and bliss-inducing track. "An American Dream," meanwhile, is an anthem of sorts, with distinct sections setting apart the moods of hope, disillusionment, and acceptance.


Love And Rockets - Express ( flac 502mb)

01 It Could Be Sunshine 4:58
02 Kundalini Express 5:52
03 All In My Mind 4:43
04 Life In Laralay 3:32
05 Yin And Yang (The Flowerpot Man) 5:56
06 Love Me 3:54
07 All In My Mind (Acoustic) 5:04
08 An American Dream 6:09
Bonus Tracks
09 Angels And Devils 6:10
10 Holiday On The Moon 6:07
11 Lucifer Sam 3:21
12 B Side #1 1:16
13 B Side #2 1:31
14 Yin And Yang (The Flowerpot Man) (Remix) 5:29
15 Ball Of Confusion (USA Mix) 6:16  

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Love and Rockets' Earth, Sun, Moon reins in the rampant excesses of Express while remaining psychedelic; the near white-out of the cover gives a clue to the music, as many of the songs emerge from a soup of white-noise guitar distortion. Much of the record addresses, in its nebulous fashion, hope and disappointment; the title track and "Youth" are two of their most simple, yet most affecting songs. Not a "normal" pop record by any means, it's more straight-ahead than their previous work and includes the upbeat single "No New Tale to Tell," a college radio hit that set the stage for the band's popular breakthrough a year later.


Love And Rockets - Earth · Sun · Moon (flac 328mb)

01 Mirror People 4:06
02 The Light 4:17
03 Welcome Tomorrow 3:36
04 No New Tale To Tell 3:26
05 Here On Earth 3:10
06 Lazy 3:12
07 Waiting For The Flood 3:38
08 Rain Bird 3:17
09 The Telephone Is Empty 4:00
10 Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven 5:13
11 Earth, Sun, Moon 3:34
12 Youth 4:42
13 Mirror People (Slow Version) 4:27

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1 comment:

  1. Hi Rho,
    Would it be possible please for Love and Rockets to make a return to Earth through a re-up? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete