Hallway of the Gods (Legendary Pink Dots)

Rex <richwill@xsite.net>

"John H Wilterding" <wilterdi@pilot.msu.edu>

hey dotophiles..

Review: Hallway of the Gods.

I remember initially feeling very little upon my first few listenings of
this album...and progressively over many (maybe a dozen) exposures, the
album has opened and expanded. A remarkably textured and restrained
release for the most part, with a number of tunes that are strangely
accessible. Surely Sterre (whatever that means) and Lucifer Landed are
songs you could play for almost any experimental music neophyte without
precipitating a psychotic reaction (then again...). Still, other songs
(Spike, All Sides) ebb and flow with a restrained but disturbed edginess.
Ka-SpelUs vocal are frequently treated in this release, to give his vocal
delivery an otherworldly presence. Despite pieces of noise and intensity,
the overall tone of this recording is one of a richly, but subtly textured
organic sound.

In my discussion with Edward during the last NA tour, he contrasted
Hallway and Chemical Playschool 10. He indicated to me that CP10 was much
more a collection of ideas, both solo and collective, with no unified
theme or direction, and suggested that Hallway was just such a (unified)
release. If this is so, as usual, it is difficult to peer directly into
the meaning of these cryptic lyrics, but on repeated listening one get the
feeling that one of the overall themes of Hallway is that life is a series
of decisions and conflicts (angels and devils perched on our shoulders),
and that in the afterlife, this is also likely to be true. This falls
very close to what has been a suspicion of mine....that life may be a
series of decisions to be made. When we pass, decisions are not suddenly
made for us...rather there are more doors with ideas and thoughts, and
more decisions to make. The song Hallway...seems very much in this
vein... Which should I pick: Door number 1?
or 2? or 834? Hmmm....

To me, lyrically, Destined to Repeat is perhaps the most intriguing. The
lyrics suggest a philosophical argument (whoUs pedigree I am uncertain)
which goes something like this: If matter is finite, and time is
infinite...then everything will happen again. Put another way...all
possible things will happen, and happen again. And further, if this is
true, sometimes events will occur exactly as they had before...and
sometimes events may be slightly different. So, as Edward suggests, maybe
once we were lovers, maybe once we were at war (eye to eye in some war).

Another excellent dots release which grows in depth and intensity upon each
listening. If you donUt have it...get it...

john

contribute while you may...

"wminart" <wminart@infonie.fr>

About Hallway of the Gods

Different themes : war, birth and death, repetition, isolation and
communication, faith.

On high

Perfect. In the tradition of all the great ouverture songs : Zero-Zero,
Casting the runes, I love you in your tragic beauty, Joey the canary... :
brilliant !

I can't understand the meaning of the text, but I like it !

Mekkanik

Fear, fear and fear, but fear of what ?
Sounds like many songs on my favorite album : " Shadow Weaver ".

Sterre

Another song about people felling very lonely and misunderstood, but much
more optimistic than " The Hill " for instance.
Magnified sadness leading to beauty. Has Edward be influenced by
Hofmannsthal and decadent poets of the end of last century ?

Spike

Very hypnotic rhythm, Rock'n'roll bass, feedback : to me, it sounds like a
Velvet Underground song. A dotsy answer to " Heroin " ?

My own private interpretation : maybe is Edward talking about drugs.
spike, sword getting driven in, desesperate friend, try to climb in vain,
you fucking fool-you left us carrying your useless pain, trapped here till
we die, residue, is it you " + compare " it can make you feel like Jesus "
with the Velvet in Heroin : "It makes me feel just like Jesus' son "), this
time seen in a negative way (death, destructionand hate) or about war ? But
lots of these quotations (+ " drilling holes ", " homeless night " mey be
reffering to war, a subject that comes again on " destines to repeat " and
all sides ".

All sides

An evolutive song. Sound and rhythm are getting better (to me). Reminds of
The Velvet Underground's " Ocean " for the same impression of being sumerges
into something you can neither control nor understand.

Harvest babies

Hudge guitar sounds reminding me of Martijn in The maria Dimension or Shadow
Weaver (Ghosts of unborn children, Stitching time). Unborn, Reborn...
Very cool change in the rhythm at about 3 :05.
I love the way they mix electronic and accoustic sounds on this song.

Lucifer landed

Nothing special to mention about it.

The hanged man
Techno electro melodic dub ? Ryan's influence ? Quite surprising but very
pleasent.

Destined to repeat

One of the most beautiful melodic / evolutive song by the Dots ever.

I like this image of people being " driftwood on an endless sea ", doomed to
live tied to one another in a relation of dependance that make them
stronger. Maybe a very realistic song on the world we're living in.

Niels' flute part is great.

The saucers are coming

I'll never wash the dishes again.
Great song.

Hallway

The end of the song reminds me of Kafka's novel called " Vor dem Gesetz ",
where a man is standing " in front of the Law " and waits for the permission
to enter the Law. Inside, he just can see halls leading to halls... The man
waits his whole life and dies in front of the Law.

wminart@infonie.fr

"W.Kabsch" <chameleon@owl-online.de>

Hi there,

First of all I like to say that hallway cames on a very strange way to
me.......a friend of mine from the USA sent me the double vinyl as a present
nearly 10 weeks before the CD was out here in germany.
I was very nicly suprised, even as I know him only from the internet!

As I put this piece of music onto my very less used old record-player I was
very excited what the LPDs this time would have produced.

And than the giant, majestic Loops of "On High" fullfilled my ears. I just
knew that song in a bit older version, they opened the canta pudeas shows
in 1996 with it here in germany. It is just another great opener for
another great LPD album. I love those slow beat it has and the backward
loops in it. And it turns in a great style directly into the magnificant
Mekkanik. I think it has a nice percussions work and nice flutes on it. And
still all other instruments are arranged perfectly to a great song. To Sterre
all I say is that it is a perfect ballade, it could suit to 100 % on the
last Teargarden CD, great guitar work! Spike is that often discussed
"Drugsong" the music: very straight, very fast.....and a genius guitar solo!
Very psychedelic indeed! I think it is inspired a bit by the death of W.R.
Goettel!

All Sides goes on with that psychedelic feelings.......a very good
combination of machines and guitars. Harvest Babies is one of my fav's of
that album.

It floats in my mind, or I'am floating in this music????? Good arrangemant,
a lot of electronics....but you never hear that.....the leading flute from
Nils is grandious. The Lyrix are a bit cryptic, but I love the
refrain....take me as I am, ..........I think it is a very personal side of
edward, dealing with being accepted or not by others!

Lucifer landed gets this note : Again it would suit also on the last
teargarden! Pretty drum workk and accoustic guitars as I like am. The hanged
man seemed really to be influenced a lot by ryan moore.

This electronic beepings, the rythmn......it is the most outstanding song on
Hallway, or not? A little 60's pop song written and played by our favourite
band.........and I like the psychedelic age though!

The Saucers is like all those premonition songs to me, I needed a lot of
listens to get in. It suited very well on this Album. A music made story
told by Ed. BTW.: have you all reconized that Ed isn't telling that much
stories on the gigs between the songs as some years ago? At the Enger Show
he told not one little story, and I missed that a bit! But back to the
Album, Destined to repeat is still my biggest fave'on that album. It is
dealing with good themes in the lyrics. Telling something like we used to
say in germany "You ever meet twice".

The music I won't review, it is just one of the biggest ballads I have in my
CD collection. Hallway is the same way as Saucers, but it is great after a
few listenings. It is very psychedelic again. The instruments are used
great. A painting of music!!!!!!

On the Album still there were that bonus track from 9 shades, never will get
why they parted it, just to can say 2 bonustracks??? I'am not very pleased
with that Live version, I think it misses the dynamic and power. Not a
mistake by the song, the man who mixed it has done a bad job.

So, that's my feelings on that album, that I think was the perfect follow up
to "From here". From here was the song orientaited psychedelicpop album,
this was the concept album that has had to follow. Ed told me himself that
it is a concept album.....a very strange concept.......he says.

read while you may,

Wolle!

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"Monica Witt" <monicawitt@hotmail.com>

I know I'm getting this to all of you pretty late in the game, but I had
a lot of other stuff to do, and took it seriously enough to give Hallway
several hard listens before writing this. Anyway, I focused mostly on
the lyrical content, not being too good at describing music. So, this is
what I get out of Hallway of the Gods:
The driving theme of Hallway is abandonment, primarily abandonment of
belief and yearning for its renewal. This is the main focus of most of
the lyrical content.

"On High" addresses the illusion of control with references to the
detachment from reality that we all experience when flying... all around
us is imminent death, with only our (hopefully) reliable technology to
keep us up in the air (the illusory safety -- and ultimate insanity --
of group faith). The hyena and hawk images evoke "Pennies for Heaven"
from Maria Dimension, and remind us of our earth-bound mortality. Hawks
and hyenas are scavengers... We can never escape the clutches of our
destiny, and we will all return to the earth, whether we want to or not.
The music calls forth the dream-like detachment of the trusting soul
with the back-masked drums at the beginning...

"Mekkanic" is the first of the Hallway material that deals with the
rejection theme, and does so in two layers, those who serve and those
who are served are equally insecure. Also, I think this song has to do
with the clockwork-like ruts relationships get in... it does seem to be
like entering into a kind of "robotic afterlife" when a relationship
(any kind of relationship) becomes stale and reflex-laden. One can feel
the disintegration of the self and a loss of originality (rust, robots
and clones..)

"Sterre" is a lovely song, reminds me a lot of Dots and Ka-spel material
from the late 80's/early 90's with it's smooth, melodic structure and
simple, story-like lyrics.It seems to address the distant feminine,
which is a recurring theme for Edward. Sadness -in and of itself- as a
form of beauty. Nuff said...

"Spike" Probably about the death of Goettel, and the agony and anger of
not knowing why or what will come of it. Also, the wall is a metaphor
for addiction...I was wondering when they would address Goettel's death,
and this seems to be it. Very saddening to listen to.

"All Sides" My favorite on this album. Knowing that the world is coming
apart, what do we do? Can we do anything? Can we muster up belief and
faith at the last hour and save ourselves, and is it worth doing... The
music really brings home the possible impending doom and the feeling of
being hopelessly caught up in it all. The lazy, passive delivery by
Edward, the gradual building of intensity and then the slow fading away
-- What are we worth in the scope of the almighty Universe, rushing in
toward us on all sides?

"Harvest Babies" - beautifully atmospheric, with a wonderful flute part
by Niels. Not too sure on the meaning here -- seems to be about
purification of the self, and surrender to the higher, but the life
experience itself is the only true purifier ("fits upon the woodpile and
we scratch there till we die").It may not be literal death, though. I
puzzled over this song for a while, and it eludes me...

"Lucifer Landed" Has that classic psychedelic sound, with the strings
and vocal echoes...Lyrically deals with needing freedom to explore your
own answers, and giving up that freedom to dogma. Standard religion
uses oppression to keep us from knowing the true nature of spirituality
("I can't look you in the eye because your heel is pressing hard upon my
head"), and keeps true meaning occluded behind its representations
("You're telling me that you feel mysterious today").

"The Hanged Man" Ryan, Ryan, Ryan. Looks at the dichotomy of self - in
a very basic, simple argument between one's natures.

"The Saucers are Coming" Indeed. One of the spoken-word rambles of
Edward's that I love so well, touching on all your secret paranoia you
don't tell anyone else about.

"Destined to Repeat" Ever wonder if the people you know now knew you
before, in a previous incarnation? We take lessons from all the
encounters we share, no matter how brief, no matter how fleeting, and
even if we try to ignore it, we're destined to meet again... The music,
especially the guitar and flute creates a wash of color and wave of
sound, cycling back in on itself, completing its own circle. A perfect
meeting of idea and music.

"Hallway" There are no answers behind the questions we ask. And over
time, we lose our faith, and we are left in the hallway, with no way
out. No gods are going to answer our pleas for help, for answers. They
have been incapacitated -- if we didn't let them die, then we killed
them ("They torched this temple years ago but they left the ghosts to
moan on glowing coals"). Only their shadows remain behind...and even
they are closed to us. We rejected them, and now we are denied
admittance.

Muse While You May

Monica

SHELLY RENEE WILLIAMSON <sr0willi@ouray.cudenver.edu>

Hey, wait a minute! Let me hurry up and do my Hallway Review before we
start Prayer for Aradia.
Hallway to me has a very strong environmental theme; emphasizing how
utterly small and insignificant humanity is compared to how important we
think we are and how we as a species tend to disrespect everything around
us; also how much we still don't know about the true nature of our
existence.
Beginning with On High. "You'd better pay the Earth your
mute respect because you've never learned to love it."
Also 'And everyone around you insane." I don't know about you guys, but
despite the promising fatality statistics quoted by the airline industry,
when I fly in a plane and look around and see that most people around me
seem completely desensitized to the awesomeness of the experience and
how incredibly small we are compared to the vast majestic beauty of our
planet I do think everyone around me is insane.
When I listen to "All Sides" and especially after reading the lyrics I
envision a wrathful Earth Goddess appearing to kick humanity's ass for
fucking her up so badly. And Edward seems to be pleading with her. "I
believe all sides, oh anything." (I don't know if this is the best
interpretation, but that's what I think of.)
And it continues. In Saucers the line that sticks out is "This is
bigger than all of us so we may as well lay down and trust." Again,
despite what some of us may think, we are not the center of the universe.
If we did receive visitors from another world we should probably take
Edward's advice to lay down and trust (and Phil's: "They should take the
tanks back . . .") It is likely that "We do not have everything under
control."
My favorite song on the album is "Hallway of the Gods."
Here is the acolyte looking for the lost gods that we have abandoned. The
temple is destroyed and left in ruins but the searcher is wandering the
lost hallways looking through the remains for some remnant that the
gods, or aliens, or whatever may have left behind. And he knows that
they still exist somewhere because he can hear their laughter. But will
they finally let him in, or leave him to wander through the maze looking
for the hidden doorway to their realm? "But they've left the ghosts to
moan . . ." It is like being a rat in a maze with the gods looking down
at the poor human trying to find its way out. Some of the gods try to
give the human clues which are invariably misinterpreted while other gods
may be teasing the poor human with false clues and laughing when he falls
for them. It may be a form of entertainment. We just don't know . . .

Winona Righteous
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Jon Whitney <calyxx@tiac.net>

***This was reposted from my web page. I didn't have the time to listen
and review all over again so please excuse the impersonality of an LPD fan
and lack of depth for every song with this. But a lot of other people
have touched on aspects I would have touched on anyway.***

Legendary Pink Dots release their seventh disc this year
(the first of two of all-new material).

On this disc, LPD seem to have taken a big step forwards with
production, with a new full-time producer who came to them
with loads of equipment and a great ear. In writing and
playing style, they seem to have taken a step back, almost
a tribute to older styles like the first Tear Garden album
as well as influential Kraut-Rock artists like Can and Neu!,
and sometimes even Beatle-esque.

Harvest Babies jumps right out of the disc, screaming for
attention. The song is multi-melodic and completely draws
the listenner's attention to every instrument. Drummer
Ryan Moore seems to be more adventurous this time around
on the album as a whole, and this song in particular.

Sterre, written about newest band member, Dutch guitarist,
Edwin's baby daughter, is a beautiful, lush piece, an acoustic
opening, soon joined with calm keyboards, Edward Ka-Spel's
distinct voice, and a serene clarinet line.

Upbeat songs like Spike and The Hanged Man are crossover
radio equipped, quite easy for the unconditioned listener,
new to the LPD world to hear, yet my least favorite songs
on the disc.

The Saucers Are Coming reminds me that LPD still have their
eccentricities. They're not ready to grow old yet, even
after 17 years of recording and touring and nearly a hundred
releases between the band and side projects. The piece is
a Can-esque jam, with announcements of UFOs reaching the earth,
people screaming, and poor Edward, trying to wash his dishes
in peace.

All Sides, despite its rather cliche guitar opening turns out
to be quite a fascinating song. Frank, their producer seems to
have had a field day with this song, the drum and guitar effects
combined with the whimsical vocal all play into a unique blend
with a great progression. My only beef is that things aren't
clear enough, a problem it may have had in post-production.

Hallway closes the album with a lengthy, airy work of art. This
song is quite easily my favorite on the disc. The production
soars, the mood is set well, the drums are subtle in the right
parts and come in loud at perfect times, while keyboards and
bass bathe the listener, almost hypnotically.
"The Gods must be appeased".

Ratings:
Car: 8
Home: 9
Walkman: 7
Production: 8
Originality: 10
Musical Proficiency: 8
Songwriting: 9

Overall Rating: 8.43

Loudness Recommendation: 8

834 <peter@life.gen.nz>

Greetings,
and thanks to those who posted their interpretations and impressions.
Yesterday I listened to the song and afterwards to "All The Pretty Little
Horses" by Current 93.

Let me say that ATPLH is the most melancholic if not downright depressing music
I have ever listened to.

Anyway, I discovered an interesting connection with the Hallway of the Gods.
The " Hallway" ( song )deals with the loss of faith,the murder of the gods,
"Gott ist tot"(Nitzsche) and the emptiness the individual faces.
Coupled with uncertainty...........

Edward's vision is the Hallway.

A place where nothing dies ( the old gods), it only
crumbles. The statues turn their backs and just collapse in piles of ashes,
fragments,remnants, ruins, trash......
They torched this temple years ago but they left the ghosts to moan on glowing
coals,in a hall that leads to a hall that leads to a hall.......

There are indeed millions of halls where where the gods die in eternal
agony......

Mr. Tibet visited a hall as well and here is the reason for my post.

In the song "The Frolic" he :

walks into the altar room all the buddhas are
smashed there.Avalokitevara's hundred faces lie shattered I have done this.
I walk to the makeshift redbrick altar a hundred years ago there is a small
brass image I have build this the red and black ants mill around unknown
journeys I take my
lighter and torch them I take my lighter and torch them I weep I weep the ants
scatter
or writhe I take my lighter and torch them torch them I weep I have done this I
am
surrounded by butterflies the child's leg lay smashed " please pray for him "
she says
to me too late alas ohsotoolate.

( as per booklet)

Alas we have a problem.....

Man created gods in his own image and worshipped them.
As man changed so did the gods and finally man said : I am God.
Let there be no others.
And man rose.
Mr. Tibet built an altar and destroyed it, became god and torched the red and
black ants.
Only to regret it.

E.K. on the other hand has a more detached approach.

" A frightened savage pounding panels....."
" And I'll walk till they forget as we'd forget."

I think they both have been in the same "Hallway" but experienced it from
different angles.

On this sad planet we see the men that are god and rule with fire and with sword
the men that follow the old gods ( because they are to frightened to let go )
and fight for their gods with fire and with sword and the ones that hope for
a peaceful end ( and a new beginning) and walk the hall that leads to a hall
that
leads to a hall...........

I know this is a simplification, but there is neither time nor space here to
enter into a profound philosophical discussion ;-)...

Finally I want to add that not long ago I had listened to the "Hallway" in a
semi conscious (illness induced) state and had one of the most intense (non drug
related) " psychedelic " experiences of my life.

Enough of my ramblings

Dream while you may

Peter

mark weddle <markw@southwind.net>

Overall impression: overwhelming. This is the LPD album I've been yearning
for the past 8 or so years now. This is by far my favorite album. It's the
perfect blend of lyricism, sounds, effects, psychedelia, rhythm, horns,
texture, layering ... it's just perfect. LPD's output is a bit difficult to
consicely summarize, but, I'd say they have a somewhat progressive folk
sound dipped in late 60's acid wash. Most of this album has a layed back
feel, but there are several upbeat tracks and portions of tracks too. The
effects are turned up high on this album and I think it works to their
advantage. To me, there's no standout tracks... the whole album, every
single track, works as a complete whole. I always listen to it all in one
sitting. Everything swirls together beautifully. The artwork is first class
too, the cover looks about how the music feels (and all of the lyrics are
included with the insert). A wonderful album and perhaps a great starter for
a budding LPD fan. There was also a very nice accompanying single for
"Sterre" as well. I'm really looking forward to the next single "PMS" and
album, "Nemesis On-Line" due out in mid to late '98.