Bloodletting
| Bloodletting | ||||
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| Studio album by Concrete Blonde | ||||
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Publication |
May 29, 1990 |
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| Label (s) | IRS Records / EMI Electrola | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP, MC |
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Title (number) |
10 |
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running time |
42:05 |
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| occupation |
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Concrete Blonde, Chris Tsangarides |
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Studio (s) |
Battery Studios, London |
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Bloodletting ( German " Aderlass " ) is the third album by the American alternative rock band Concrete Blonde . It was played by Roxy Music's free regular drummer Paul Thompson at the time, instead of Harry Rushakoff. Rushakoff had had an argument with the band leader. This again took over the main part of the bass work, which reformed the original trio line-up . The texts in particular are responsible for a proper Gothic touch. Thanks to the airplay of Joey was Bloodletting most successful album. However, the little hit failed to give Concrete Blonde a breakthrough.
Guest musician
Andy Prieboy from his friends Wall of Voodoo took part in the recordings by accompanying his own composition Tomorrow, Wendy on the keyboard . Another friendly group is Dream Syndicate , whose head Steve Wynn sings along to support the chorus of the title song. In 1988 Napolitano wrote the song I Have Faith with him for the Dream Syndicate album Ghost Stories . The friendly relations with REM bore fruit twice, because at Darkening of the Light Peter Buck , who specializes in string instruments with a fingerboard , played the mandolin and, in addition to his main role as a producer (e.g. REM), John Keane also played slide guitar as a musician . Tomorrow, Wendy also has bass credits for Gail Ann Dorsey, who worked for David Bowie for many years and released three solo records .
Track list
- Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) (Johnette Napolitano) - 6:04
- The Sky Is a Poisonous Garden (Johnette Napolitano, Bruce Moreland) - 2:36
- Caroline (Johnette Napolitano) - 5:30
- Darkening of the Light (Johnette Napolitano) - 3:24
- I Don't Need a Hero (Johnette Napolitano) - 4:25
- Days and Days (Johnette Napolitano) - 3:12
- The Beast (Johnette Napolitano) - 3:52
- Lullabye (Johnette Napolitano) - 3:56
- Joey (Johnette Napolitano) - 4:07
- Tomorrow, Wendy (Andy Prieboy) - 5:05
Only on CD re-release ( 20th Anniversary Edition ) from 2010:
- I Want You (Johnette Napolitano) - 3:31
- Little Wing ( Jimi Hendrix ) - 4:16
- Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) (French Extended Version) (Johnette Napolitano) - 7:06
- Roses Grow (live) (Johnette Napolitano) - 3:08
- The Sky Is A Poisonous Garden (live) (Johnette Napolitano, Bruce Moreland) - 4:10
- Tomorrow, Wendy (live) (Andy Prieboy) - 3:58
Song info
Bloodletting often appears in the Thrash , Death , Doom and Black Metal and Gothic band scene as an album or song title, but the Concrete Blonde song was only covered by Massacre and Saints of Ruin . In addition to a “short version” suitable for radio exploitation, the 1991 CD single contains the six-minute album version and versions in French and German extended by one minute. Napolitano did not have native speakers do the translations , which led to some errors. Her weakness for other languages will lead Napolitano to even more serious Spanish blunders on Mexican Moon 1993.
The first release, Joey, was a worldwide success . In the US, it reached number 19 on the Billboard charts. In Europe it was way ahead, especially in the Netherlands . In Germany , the song was used in the crime scene crime film Zabou . Kevin Devine covered it in 2007. Napolitano wrote the lyrics about a love that threatens to break from alcohol and ended in a taxi on the way to the studio.
The second single Caroline , which was shot up in all possible formats five months after Joey , did not meet expectations. The 7 ″ single appeared with Days and Days on the B-side, the 12 ″ single also featured a live recording of the older track Roses Grow , and the CD version was expanded to include live recordings of The Sky Is a Poisonous Garden and Tomorrow, Wendy and the Hendrix cover Little Wing, which was already used for the God Is a Bullet vinyl maxi . All of these recordings enriched the 2010 re-release of the album as bonus tracks .
Wall of Voodoo member Bruce Moreland was involved in the creation of The Sky Is a Poisonous Garden . To what extent his overcoming drug addiction influenced the text cannot be said with certainty, because it does not give a reason for the death of the main female character.
In Tomorrow, Wendy, Andy Prieboy describes a real incident from his circle of friends: A prostitute committed suicide for fear of AIDS . He asked Napolitano if she would like to sing the piece with him in a duet for his solo album . She liked it so much that she picked it up for Bloodletting too . In view of this parallel publication, and with mutual cooperation, labeling it with a “cover version” would be inappropriate.
Johnette Napolitano, who is considered an introvert, fell into (again) sad, gloomy, hopeless content. At the time she admitted that the album had a "gloomy mood". And when she thought she had overcome her personal low, she even admitted that the accusation that it was “suicide music” was justified.
Napolitano's suffering is the most haunting expression of The Beast . Gnawing on a failed love affair, she describes love as a "leech", "vampire" and "a heart-rending beast", furthermore as "excruciating madness", "killer pretending to be a friend" and "monster from the darkness".
Artwork
A bouquet of red roses is shown against a black background. A white rose is underneath, not in the center of the picture, but close to it. There are drops of blood on its flower, stem and leaf. The group name is in white, the album name in red at the top right, where none of the roses reach. The Joey - Cover corresponds to object selection, color design and symbolism with the Album: On a black and white checkerboard pattern -floor a white vase is shattered with red roses. The impact caused splashes of blood, apparently from the roses, known symbols of love. The rose motif goes back to the God Is a Bullet single cover, on which dried up roses symbolize senseless sacrifices.
Napolitano worked the concept with Hugh Brown and Jim Yousling's assistance. She dedicated the album to her close friend Ron Scarselli, the cover artist of the first Concrete Blonde album, who had recently died of AIDS, almost at the same age as Napolitano.
reception
In a tour preview of the Frankfurter Rundschau it was said about the album without a final evaluation: “In the songs Johnette lets out everything that depresses her. Sometimes it gets very gloomy [...]. ” Matthias Penzel also said superficially in the specialist journal Musikmagazin :“ The current album BLOODLETTING is, like its predecessor FREE, an album to listen to, especially to listen to several times. ”The Internet platform Allmusic awarded 4.5 stars out of 5.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Martin Scholz: Concrete Blonde on the Loreley Rock. "Walking In London": Johnette Napolitano and Band . In: Frankfurter Rundschau , April 4, 1992.
- ↑ Frank Keil: Andy Prieboy - Ex-Wall Of Voodoo . In: Zillo , issue 7-8 / 1991, p. 39.
- ↑ a b c Matthias Penzel : Concrete Blonde. Fairy tales, myths, dreams . In: Fachblatt Musikmagazin , No. 11/1990, pp. 18-19.
- ↑ Jim Bessman: Concrete Blonde Lightens Up, And Shows A Harder Edge . In: Billboard , March 21, 1992.
- ^ Scott Schalin: Concrete Blonde Leader Prepared for Bloodletting . In: The News < Palm Beach County >, Feb.22, 1991, p. 14.
- ↑ art: New start with "Bloodletting" . In: Frankfurter Rundschau , September 1, 1990.
- ↑ Bloodletting at Allmusic (English)