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TELEVISION
Marquee Moon (Rhino/Elektra)
Adventure (Rhino/Elektra)
Reviewed by Alan Wright
Back in 1981, I was junior in high school. The particular high school I went to was known as a "free school," that is to say it was far laxer in structure than most standard schools, and many of the teachers were Liberal free thinkers and former hippie types. The school had a particularly cool library, including a rich record library with tons of albums, and pretty strange music in it. In amongst a lot of '70s singer-songwriter stuff, and your standard Beatles/Stones stuff, were things that pealed my interest. Having previously chanced on some Elektra stuff like The Doors and Love, and been impressed with both, one LP on Elektra in particular grabbed my attention one day. It was Television's "Marquee Moon." I those days, I would often associate a label with the bands they signed, thinking "Well, I liked other stuff on this label, so I will likely enjoy this." One day, I took out "Marquee Moon," and quite simply, it blew my mind.
Some twenty years later, I'm listening to the remastered expanded version and digging it just as much. I guess I could go on and on about how much this album means to me, the times Tom Verlaine's words inspired me and got me through emotional turmoil, about the sheer ingeniousness of Verlaine and Richard Lloyd's twisting, interwoven guitar solos. When this album came out, it was considered punk rock, but it's hard to see it having much in common with any of today's punk music. There's no song shorter than 4 minutes, and the title track reaches past the ten-minute mark. It should be noted that on the original album, said title track was faded out early to fit it onto the side of the LP. Here, like the previous CD version, the song is restored to its full 10:47 length and ends properly. The album is really the perfect mix of minimalist pop songwriting and artier aspirations. There's no denying that "See No Evil," "Venus" and "Friction" are hook-filled hits-that-never-were. "Guiding Light" is a beautiful ballad with one of the best guitar solos ever committed to tape. To this day, "Torn Curtain" still almost makes me cry, it's such a sad song. Bonuses for this reissue include the complete, unedited version of their first single (originally split over two sides of a 7"), "Little Johnny Jewel," alternate versions of "See No Evil," "Friction," and the title track, and an instrumental version of the live favorite "A Me Omori," also known as "O Mi Amore."
Many people put down Television's second and last album (until their 1997 reunion and subsequent self-titled CD), and while it may not reach the heights that the debut did, it's still a great release. The songs were a little shorter and more concise as in the case of "Glory" and the album's single "Ain't That Nothin'." The band reached back to their live club years prior to "Marquee Moon" for the rocking "Foxhole" and bouncy "Careful," previously played live as early as 1975 (when bassist/vocalist Richard Hell was still in the band) and called "I Don't Care." Apparently, they changed the song's title out of respect for the Ramones and their song "I Don't Care." The newer songs like "Carried Away," and "The Dream's Dream" showed the band moving towards a somewhat quieter sound with more keyboard work (courtesy of Verlaine) happening, but as equally enticing. "The Fire" features Verlaine using a knife as a slide instrument and sounds kind of like a theremin.
Bonus tracks on this release include the heavier, faster and shorter single version of "Ain't That Nothin'," an early version of "Glory," and the previously unreleased title track, cut from the original album for some reason. There's also an uncredited (on the sleeve at least as the liner notes mention it) instrumental version of "Ain't That Nothin'," at the end, on which the band jams on the riff for over nine minutes, referencing both the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" and the Kinks' "I Need You," until the tape abruptly ran out. I should also mention the tasty packaging for both of these discs: fold-out digipacks with three sections, detailed liner notes, and lyrics. They even reproduced the original vinyl pressing labels for the CDs!
© 2003 - Alan Wright