Probably the most impressive thing about Eleventh Dream
Day’s second album for Atlantic (third album,
overall) is how little it did to remove itself from the raw passion of the
previous record, Beet. It seems hard
to believe that the major label was pleased with the sales results of Beet, in fact, you could even imagine the folks at the record label offering a more accessible vision, one that includes huge
bags of sweeteners and infectious candy coatings.
Instead, Lived To Tell
was recorded in a fucking tobacco barn, and you can almost hear the dusty floor
stirring up from the ruckus that Janet Bean makes with her questionable
timekeeping, never mind the air that’s getting pushed around from guitarist
Baird Figi and Rick Rizzo.
Rizzo also serves as Eleventh Dream Day’s primary
mouthpiece, with Bean herself providing some additional color with backing
vocals.
From her noticeably rushed intro to album opener “Rose Of
Jericho,” you’ll easily forgive her sloppy beginnings when you hear the twin
cacophony that Figi and Rizzo unleashed upon their entrance to the song. With a
nice dual fret-war underway, it becomes understandable why Bean wanted to get
the rumble underway, tout de suite.
Looser and louder than its predecessor, Lived To Tell finds Figi branching out with some incredible slide
guitar word that just pops out of the right channel.
Speaking of, the entire record is mixed with the guitars way
out in front, Rizzo and Bean’s vocals struggle to be heard while Janet’s snare
drum cuts through everything. What actually pushes the song forward alternates
between her high-hat or her bass drum, causing the entire arrangement to sound
like it could topple over in its own excitement at any moment. The band simply
sound like they cannot wait to rock your fucking balls off.
And they do.
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