Golden Age (+ Blacklist EP) (Legendary Pink Dots)

mciul@haverford.edu (devout agnostic)

I was thinking about this album the other day, so I thought I'd review it.
Haven't listened to it in a while, but I know if I try, I'll never get
around to writing the review.

Overall, I don't think many of the songs on this album stand alone very
well. Each one seems like a very brief idea that doesn't get developed far.
However, They play off each other effectively and the whole thing is a good
listen. Not one of my favorites, though. I think the effect is a little too
soporific (sp?) There is a lack of clarity- all of the instruments seem to
be in the background, with nothing at all in the foreground. This is a
problem I've noticed in some of the most recent albums too.

Maniac: Another one of Edward's songs about obsessive stalker-types. This
one is more upbeat and aggressive than most, but as with many of the songs
on this album, it gets muddy in places.

The Talent Contest: I often think the character in this song is the object
of our previous "Maniac"'s obsession. I like this, it's mellow and vaguely
humorous, but at the same time threatening. Noteworthy for the line "834's
her lucky number" :)

The More It Changes: Yeah, so lots of you out there hate the repetetive
songs, but I love this one. The lyrics and the melody go together
seamlessly, and they've got a pleasant wistful quality backed up by syrupy
keyboards, including that cool Hammond organ sound. The abrupt ending is
perfect.

Hotel Noir: One of the best on the album. A more instrumental tune, almost
baroque in its arrangement. Sparse at times, which is an improvement on the
cloudiness elsewhere. Elegant, romantic, dancelike in the ballroom sense.
Quotable lyric: "And even the vegetables screamed"

The Month After: This has a little of the elegance of Hotel Noir, and some
pretty melodies, but tends to give me that bored, sleepy feeling that is
the weakness of this album.

Lisa's Separation: I'd say about the same for this as for The Month After.
I do like these songs, they just kinda get me down.

The Golden Age: This is a cool track. Around about here, the album starts
getting really twisted. I love the strings on this song, and of course the
smirking sarcastic lyrics are beautiful.

Black Castles: The defining track on this album for me. Funny thing, I
think this song takes that "bored" quality to such an extreme that it's
fascinating. Excellent work by soloists Bob (rest his soul) and (Niels?
Hans?) I love the sick lyrics and the bizarre production... this song
gurgles its way through the heart of the city disease like nothing I've
ever heard. Contains some of my all time favorite lines, including "Made it
to page 53, they wrapped him round a fish and threw him in the stew"

Regression: Spooky. Maybe it's pretentious, but I like this song.

When I first got this album, it was on LP and had no extra tracks. A friend
of mine gave me an extra copy on tape, not knowing which albums I had. I
didn't listen to it for a long time, thinking it was the same, but when I
finally did, oh what joy when I discovered it has extra tracks but doesn't
list them! As with many LPD albums, I like the extra tracks even better
than the original ones.

The Blacklist EP is a lot more lively than the Golden Age. It has similar
sounds, but somehow they're just crisper, more present, and the rhythms are
more compelling. The writing is beautiful and captivating.

Blacklist: Mean, mean, mean! Listen to Edward scream! I like it when he
raises his voice, and the production on this song is satisfyingly
aggressive. Better than Nine Inch Nails! ;) A curiosity, though, when I
listen to what's actually going on with the parts, I'm surprised the song
sounds as full and deep as it does. But it does.

Methods: Another one with guts, though this time he's whispering. These
songs just have nice chords, nice rhythms, catchy tunes. You can get lost
in the world of the Dots- this song is vivid, colorful.

Our Lady in Cervetori: I'm a sucker for pizz. double bass. And it's really
well done here. Creepy graveyard counterpoint, this song. But then, I like
all the Our Lady songs...

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Alan Ezust

This is the first LPD album I ever heard. I look back on the year I heard
it, and it seems so recent, and so long ago at the same time. When I
introduce someone to the LPDs, this is usually the first album I play for
them.

This is one of the most "musical" albums I've heard by LPDs. Each song
seems to be in a different style, and the melodies are all so original and
elaborate, and yet they sound so familiar at the same time. And the
acoustic and classical instruments blend so nicely with the electronic
ones, it sounds like they had an amazing recording studio and a whole
orchestra to do this album.

Talent Contest: I wish I knew which genre of music this song has taken
from; I know I've heard other music like this. The lyrics are so
wonderfully sarcastic and condescending, I love it.

More it Changes: It's such a happy, flowing song, and when you actually
listen to the lyrics they're so depressing! I love it! When I think of
LPD-esque songs, I think of this one, and others like "Government Health
Warning", where the emotions from the lyrics are almost contradicting
those from the music.

Hotel Noir: I've listened to this song so many times that if ever a single
note from a single instrument was played differently, I'd be shocked
utterly. Very classical, and the melody sounds soooo familiar. And the
moog effects remind me a little of the main Clockwork Orange theme...

The Month After: A wonderful tango song, but the energy is interrupted in
a number of places. I quite enjoy singing along to it though, even if I
don't really understand the words.

Lisa's Separation: Acoustic guitar and violin... A wonderful combination.
The song is pretty slow and depressing, but I like it anyway.

Black Castles: Very demented - very Tired Eyes Slowly Burning-esque. Eerie
sounds, and a very cool sax solo. This is one of my favorite tracks. I've
never heard anything quite like it. Mike Ciul indeed does justice to
this song in his review above. The lyrics at first sound like they're just
stram-of-consciousness, but later on you realize that there is a point of
reference, which is moving through the the city and following the lives
(and deaths) of various inhabitants.

Methods: It was only in the last year that I realized the song was
basically a course in different ways to off yourself. I mean, I knew that
there were references to suicide, but I never brought it all together. I
love it when he sings down low in his balsy voice, but when it contrasts
to his high voice, it's even more effective. The down low synths, the
puppy-esque precussion, and the high flutes all blend together so well.

Our Lady in Cervetori: Imagine being taken on a tour of the sewer system
underneath a graveyard. Very creepy, with masterful stringed instruments.

Rex <richwill@xsite.net>