Concrete Blonde (Album)

Occupation

• Vocals / Bass: Johnette Napolitano
• Guitar: James Mankey
• Drums: Harry Rushakoff

Concrete Blonde is the first album by the American alternative rock band Concrete Blonde after its renaming. In a French indie label before an EP was released under the band name Dream 6. This could not be used because the names of components to occur frequently in the music scene and he therefore had too little character of its own. A new condition was for a record deal with IRS whose boss Miles Copeland III, at least not - as other interested parties - wanted to intervene in the musical direction. For an unknown band not rare, even the marketing of this debut album came slowly gaining momentum. So conditional licensing processes that sometimes the Year 1987 is mentioned.

Guest musicians

James Mankeys brother Earle, with whom he had previously worked together at the Sparks, functioned primarily as a producer, but it did not take to ensure the melodic Dance Along the Edge with the synthesizer for frugal Toneinsprengsel. Officially, he is not listed as " guest musicians ". A tool exchange took Napolitano and Mankey before at Little Sister.

Title list

Only on CD re-release of 2004:

Song Info

The title of the clip is True Album: It starts with the text version and ends with the instrumental version. The former was of Propagandhi in the hardcore / punk style (fast - so not even two minutes ) gecovert. At Concrete Blonde he has moved into pop nearby, as well as Dance Along the Edge; both were released as a single. In contrast to this was the third single of sounding punk song by Still in Hollywood. It is about the love-hate relationship with Hollywood, with its sloping and seedy characters. A leisurely rock number is Cold Part of Town, while Your Haunted Head uptempo rock is. Both pieces complement the theme of the dark side of the glamor district with its illustrious existence. Furthermore Rock offers Song for Kim, tends towards Wave Little Sister and towards Country (You're the Only One ) Can Make Me Cry. A George Harrison Cover is worn Beware of Darkness. Composed of Mankey Over Your Shoulder is again a fast piece, the Napolitano has missed an almost eerie, oppressive, at least for the person addressed statement. It was thus suitable to be used in horror movies and mystery. In The Hidden - The unspeakably evil as well as in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 found next to this also Your Haunted Head use, in addition to The Hidden Still in Hollywood.

Artwork

The front cover shows light beige tiles or paving slabs that are intersected by a crack, the a band photo ( the trio posing at a road junction ) partially covers. The red-brown band logo is placed at the top right. It is made of typewriter letters, two letters in the word are in the middle, and push many blurred, as if one has served the shift key volatile or lower blade edge is reached or the machine has a wear Macke. A system based on typewriters band logo is later on the front of the booklet Rarities CD Still in Hollywood, which therefore carries one of the tracklist of this plate borrowed titles recur. And finally, once the album Group Therapy, which marks Concret Blonde " return" after the dissolution in 1995.

The LP included the lyric sheet reminiscent of patchwork or panels, as each handwritten lyrics was added in different sized " box" and decorated with drawings, which, together, produce a poster -like whole. Some designs will be taken up in later publications, as because the game card symbols on Free, which are also hidden " inside " as in walking in London ( at the decoupling Ghost of a Texas Ladies would ' equal front accommodated Man Playing cards on the cover were ), and the dancing skeletons on Mexican Moon. In the CD release, the individual segments are separated from each other on their own booklet pages.

The concept was devised by Johnette Napolitano, then converted by good friend Ron Scarselli, a graphic designer and painter from the environment of REM mastermind Michael Stipe, who is a Napolitano - buddy itself. In 1990, she will devote Scarselli after his early death the album Bloodletting.

Reception

The Internet platform Allmusic awarded 2 stars out of 5.