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60s band The Monks consisted of 5 American GIs stationed in Germany, trying to give the locals a taste of the contemporary sounds. While isolation such as this would have choked up and starved most bands, The Monks used their alone time to hone and perfect a sound that would become not only unique in comparison to most popular music at the time, but would stand as a forerunner to the punk movements of the 70s.
Black Monk Time carries with it some of the expected trappings of a band working in this decade: anti-Vietnam sentiments, vocal harmonies, jamming organ lines, moments of silly psychedelic lyricism and imagery. But this album, aided by isolation from the general ebbs and flows of the world at large, ends up with a sounds quite removed from anything else of that era. Since the music industry still wielded incredible power in the 60s, most newly-signed bands went though a buffing and polishing of sorts, both image and sound-wise, before hitting the streets. With a lack on a strong industry influence in Germany at the time gave The Monks the freedom to create novelty. Black Monk Time comes across as much more abrasive and raw than most of it contemporaries. It tends to emphasize rhythm over melody, and is one of the first albums that uses guitar feedback, which would become a mainstay in later years. There is also heavy use of a six-string gut-strung banjo, which added a much more metallic sound to their songs. They also moved away from the traditional songwriting pattern of verse-chorus-verse, and stuck to a more stripped-down sound.
While Black Monk Time, then and now, enjoyed nothing more than an underground following, its sound is a telling indication of where rock music was heading. Once rock matured in the late 60s and early 70s, bands started reaching back towards their bluesy roots. Things got to the point where only virtuosos could play the kind of complicated chord and rhythm progressions that became all the rage. Punk helped to democratize rock-n-roll again, giving groups of brash kids with instruments the ability to become international sensations. Traits that made Black Monk Time such a interesting listen came back to the fore; the people wanted to hear power, passion, and simplicity again. When placed in context, the creation Black Monk Time becomes all the more astounding, an weather vane pointing the way towards what rock could (and would) become.
This album, on its surface, didn't strike me as anything overly remarkable when I first hear it. Grace's presentation seemed too flashy and ostentatious, with a singer so in love with his own voice that he has built an hour-long sonic altar to himself. It took a 7 1/2 hour flight from Dallas to Honolulu to give me the mental patience and pliability to give Buckley's debut album an in-depth listen. It became apparent that I had misled myself terribly. Jeff Buckley is an artist gifted with the rare kind of vocal range and expressiveness that can paint vivid images. He flows with such passion and power that one cannot help but to swept away. His backing band does him a great service by providing a interesting yet neutral enough area in which he can work. On "Lilac Wine," his band quietly paces along with him, complimenting the swells and drops in his voice. On the other side of the spectrum, "Eternal Life" bristles with swirling, grinding guitar riffs and a rhythm line that could almost walk off on its own, but all the while whittling out a tight groove that Buckley's voice can operate comfortably in. But other albums are just as comparably well-produced. What sets Grace upon its well-deserved pedestal are the moments when it moves into the epic. Grace, even at its weaker moments (and there VERY few, if any), it moves with the kind of bravado that most albums and bands would find themselves eventually crushed beneath. But Buckley makes it work in ways that almost no one else could dare to, and moves himself and his work into the realm of the ages. "Lover, You Should Have Come Over" charges harder and harder head-long into an unsuspecting audience, gaining enough emotional force to level even the hardest love-weary heart. And then there's "Hallelujah." This Leonard Cohen cover stands as more than just the crown jewel of the album; this track is arguably the crown jewel of 90s music. Many people (myself definitely included) are of the belief that music is one of the better ways for us to touch and experience the divine, with the best of the best of the best singers doing nothing less than channeling the voice of that most-high force that binds the universe together. This song stands as proof to me that this effect is as real as gravity or magnetism. Grace is a rather fitting memorial to a gifted artist just coming into his own before leaving us much too soon. There is no tiring of this album; every time I hear or appreciate something new about it. If you are reading these words and have anything less than a decent appreciation for Grace, shame on you. This is one for the ages.
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I do like Grace, but I would say I listen to it least of all of Buckley's recordings.
I would say that the true mark of Buckley's talent is some of the live recordings like "Live at Siné" or some of the other posthumous recordings that have surfaced. Here you have these glimpses of a man, just in love with music. I particularly love his reinterpretation of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do." I would put it up with "Hallelujah" in terms of power. Listen to it, it's raw and alive. If you can listen to it with headphones on, and not get chills, your heart is stone. I think "Siné" is like a musicians proving ground, where Buckley is stripped to just a guitar, and he milks his voice and guitar for all they are worth.
"Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk" though not technically finished is so vibrant and alive, perhaps it is more profound because of what was lost with Buckley, but there are some amazing tracks on this one as well, plus having Tom Verlaine on board doesn't hurt either.
Punk rock shook the rock-n-roll scene to its core during the late 70s with its emphasis of raw power and intensity over fine songcrafting and skill. As the scene started to mature, raucous bands with three chords began to give way to more artistically-minded musicians who melded their own musical tastes and influences with punk, creating a slightly divergent form generally referred to as post-punk. Post-punk bands injected reggae, dub, funk and other musical influences into the charged and stripped-down sound of “garden-variety punk.” The subject matter of post-punk matured as well, singing about the social and political ills in a much more crafted and adept matter than the usually-nihilistic earlier punk bands handled them.
Gang of Four and their debut album, Entertainment!, almost single-handedly codify the ethos of the early post-punk movement. Entertainment! is mixed much cleaner than other punk albums of the time. The drums frame each song without spreading too widely, and the bass and rhythm lines are brought to the fore, a trait characteristic of most post-punk bands. Entertainment! lyrically covers topics still as controversial and explosive today as they were in 1979, such as the politics of love (“Natural’s Not in It”), social and economic disparity (“Not Great Men”, “Guns Before Butter), and over-domineering governments (“Ether”). Even the title of the album itself is a jab at a culture too concern with diversions to see the truth happening around them. Gang of Four gives us a mix on Entertainment! not found often in music of the time: catchy, high-energy music with a message so politically charged that it should be kept from gas-filled rooms.
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Nice, and you didn't even touch on the undying "Damaged Goods", one massive song that still moves me to this day.
Dave Allen lives a few houses away from mine here in Portland, Oregon, and our kids went to the same schools. While he's a very nice guy, very approachable, very funny...he's also extremely intelligent, well-spoken and a very innovative thinker. So just as one is managing to relax upon finding that this massive musical icon is such a regular guy, one suddenly finds oneself speechless and hopelessly intimidated by some incisive observation that Dave has just released into the atmosphere. Quite thoughtless of him, really.
Check out Dave's blog if you're interested -- it's one of many interesting things that he does these days.
Nicely done. Entertainment! is a timeless classic as far as I'm concerned. I don't know Dave in person, but from what I can tell from our e-interactions, he seems to be an open-minded, warm creative & witty person. And that makes me love his music even more.
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Thanks for spreading the word!
Fascinating, not heard of them before. They do have an interesting sound. Thanks.