The reality is that Marquee
Moon is such a perfect specimen, one of the most unquestionably brilliant
debut albums in rock history, that anything in its wake is bound to pale in
comparison.
And when you examine everything in Television’s wake, you’ll
see that their first album was the culmination of the band’s years of
woodshedding and cherry picking their way through only the best material.
The follow up, Adventure,
compiles both the also-rans of their debut, but also with it the stench of a
band splintering from all of the unmet expectations. It’s no wonder that
guitarists Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd delivered better debut solo albums than Adventure, and it also created a bit of hesitation when it was
announced in 1992 that Television would re-form after more than a decade of
inactivity.
It was very clear that the band was taking advantage of the
chaotic state of music left in Nevermind’s
wake. Strange, as the New York
quartet were miles away-literally and figuratively-from the essence of those NW
Big Muffs who promoted substance over style.
Let’s not forget that Television had a very keen sense of
style, and the band’s resulting entry in the land of grunge is a stylish
reminder of NYC’s ability to slay with guitar tones devoid of distortion.
A quick spin of “Call Mr. Lee,” Television’s emphasis track upon release, shows an ageless volley
between two guitar greats and the results make the entire record worth the
price of admission.
The song is a nervy jem, but it’s the solos that make the
entire song transcendent. Lloyd and Verlaine trade off Fender strangling riff
in the record’s most “showy” moments, but your jaw will drop at the results as
they are just as colorful at some of the best moments of the solo on the title
track of their debut.
Elsewhere, the riffs are subtle yet complex. Tones seem to
rue the day on Television, with “No
Glamour For Willi” offering at least a half-dozen different tones throughout
the course of five minutes. It’s like the fellas knew this reunion job would be
brief, so they set a course to document every single guitar tone they conjured
up during the proceedings.
It’s Verlaine-lead, so Television
has the feel of a very inspired solo record, with maybe just a tad more strut
during the set’s bolder moments (“Beauty Trip” and “In World”).
The ones that take the longest to get a grip on are the kool
kat beat vibe that Verlaine dishes on such tracks as “Rhyme” and the Pere Ubu
tribute, “Mars.” But the more you listen, the more you figure out that even at
their most pretensious this band continues to sound like nobody else, and Television became a worthy distraction
back in ’92.
Twenty years later-and still the band’s final statement-it’s
worth another distraction. What reminded me was a visit to a record store and
noticing that Television had been
reissued on vinyl.
I resisted my impulse to purchase another copy, particularly
since I hadn’t listened to Television
since it was first release. I just knew that a song like “Call Mr. Lee” had
to sound awesome through those warm analog vibrations.
So a few spins of the colder, digital kind were in order,
and with each one, new patterns and tones emerged. The simple truth is that I
became infatuated with Television’s beat cool and guitar heroics.
The album has aged well, and while it may not have exactly
serve what this record was intended to be-a sales bump from grunge’s strange
ability to make a few hits-it did end the band on a better note than Adventure and it managed to make me miss
Television a bit more when they signed off again.
No comments:
Post a Comment