Random Album Review #2: Television - Marquee Moon

Something about this album fits my day. The guy shows up at the door asking for a job. As I am responding, his phone rings, he answers it and start's talking! I said, "Look man, you get either me or the phone." He told me to hold on. I closed the door and went back up stairs.

People are very strange, absurd sometimes.

Listening to Marquee Moon provides me with a perfect back drop for the strange and almost storied way that life can come at you. It can be really out there and just make for great entertainment. Anyway, on to the review.

Television emerged from New York's chaotic scene of the mid-'70s. The group is sometimes mislabel a punk band. That's not really correct. Its a tight rock outfit that paves the way for a large amount of inferior 80s stylings - think the best and tightest moments of the Talking HEad's Cure and maybe even a dash of Oingo Boingo mixed with dueling guitar prowess that is rarely paralleled outside of peak era Allmann's (or for Crowes fans, those rhythmic jams that Rich and Marc occassionally groove into - not full of solos, but rather all about interplay), add in Velvet Underground attitude and a dash of Big Star pop sensibility. Imagine all of that distilled into a perfectly organized and very complex sonic attack that never goes where you expect it and you've got an idea what Television sounds like.

Television was guitarist/vocalist Tom Verlaine, guitarist Richard Lloyd, drummer Billy Ficca, and bassist Richard Hell. By 1974 their fan base was large enough that they began to play regular gigs at CBGB's. In 1975 Television recorded a demo with Brian Eno, that failed to get the band a contract. Hell left the band after recording the demo, and was replaced by Fred Smith. After a hit underground single, the band released a Bit EP in 1976. They then began recording their debut album, Marquee Moon, which was released in 1977.

Television released their second album, Adventure, in the spring of 1978. Months later, the group suddenly broke up, largely due to tensions between the two guitarists. Smith rejoined Blondie, while Verlaine and Lloyd both pursued solo careers. Television re-formed 1991, disbanded again in early 1993 and in 2001, reunited once again to play sporadic dates.

OK, that's the basic background, now to the music.

Marquee Moon has no bad songs. Actually, let me rephrase that. Every song on Marquee Moon is perfect.

1 See No Evil 3:58

2 Venus 3:54

3 Friction 4:45

4 Marquee Moon 10:47

5 Elevation 5:10

6 Guiding Light 5:37

7 Prove It 5:05

8 Torn Curtain 7:01

Its pretty impossible to do a song by song review because each song is unique yet sounds exactly like the previous song. The effect is a collection of perfect singles that collapse into a perfect album. Its like one endless song that constantly and dramatically changes gears if you have the album on repeat you suddenly realize you've listened to the entire album twice, enjoyed every second of it, but never noticed that it started again. The vocals and lyrics reflect a borderline insanity that is more than equally (and paralleled) by the endless guitar lines and interchanges.

The closest I can think of describing how excellent this album is is by comparing it to what might have been if Big Star's album "3rd" hadn't been intentionally ruined by Alex Chilton. Take away the darkness and the anger, take away the slow pain and despare, keep the craziness, keep the clarity, keep the pop, keep the hooks that grab you over and over and over... and (to me at least) you have very similar musical ideolgies - though not necessarily the same sound by any means.

This is guitar music. Its not "jam" music, though its all about the jam. This is the type of guitar music that is offended and insulted by jamband noodling and bluesy riffing. Its deep. Its complex. Its interesting. Its dynamic. Its over the top. Its New York.