Customer Reviews

Blast of Silence

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If nothing else, this excellent disc provides many new branches for you to check out. Matthew Sweet, Syd Straw, Bill Laswell, Nicky Skoeltipis, Kidney all shine on this album. Anton Fier is the thread, and really holds things together. The playing is tight, especially on Something Becomes Nothing and I've Been the One. There is not a bad song on this disc. The best Palaminos album.

Can't remember what got me to buy this album, but it lead me to at least twenty others. Matthew Sweet, Syd Straw, Bill Laswell, Richard Thompson, etc etc got together with Anton Fier and made a gem. Every track on this disc is a 10. Years later, I listen to it almost every week. You won't be disappointed with Blast of Silence.

Dennis Hopper opens and closes this excellent collection of songs with a one sentence spoken word statement. Between his brief cameo beginning with Syd Straw and continuing with Matthew Sweet, T Bone Burnett and others, this Palominos release is by far the most cohesive and striking. On the previous "Visions of Excess" Michael Stipe and Richard Thompson joined Syd Straw for another great outing. This time, we get to hear Syd develop into an excellent singer as she belts out a gorgeous rendition of an old Lowell George classic and then sings a few of her own AND adds wonderful back up to one of Matthew Sweet's earliest and best tracks. This is required listening for any serious rock fan.

Version 3 of drummer Anton Fier's ever-changing studio group, The Golden Palominos, released 1986's "Blast Of Silence." With such guest artists as vocalists Syd Straw, Matthew Sweet, Jack Bruce of Cream, T-Bone Burnett and Don Dixon, "Blast" is an excellent, solid pop/rock album, with an occasional dash of country. My personal favorites include the catchy "Something Becomes Nothing," "(Something Else Is) Working Harder," "Angels," "Work Was New," and "Strong, Simple Silences." Great performances, great tunes, great Golden Palominos album. Thumbs up on "Blast Of Silence." (NOTE: I can't help but notice that these Golden Palominos re-issues are given different album covers. I like the new "Blast Of Silence" cover with the trees, but what happened to the old album cover, which looks like a nighttime photograph/painting of a tower? Oh well, no worries. At least the music is the same!)

1. I've been the one 2. Something becomes nothing 3. Push and the shove 4. (Something else is) Working harder 5. Angels 6. Diamond 7. Faithless heart 8. Work was new 9. Strong, simple silences 10. Brides of Jesus.

The Golden Palominos probably hit their zenith in the late '80s when Michael Stipe began recording occasionally for the band. Anton Fier is the constant, and apart from that the rest of the "band" is a rotating cast of people, making every album, every song very different. Blast of Silence is an enduring collection of songs that draw a bit on several styles, and features T-Bone Burnett, among others. This album is fantastic-you wont' be disappointed.

Ok, so I love this album, but it's not really "a blast", as in 'great fun' or something like that. I just couldn't resist the predictable cheesy title intro. What this album is though is flat out very good.

I was happy to see the same sentiments expressed in the previous 5 user reviews here on Amazon. I've owned this album since the late 80's and I can tell you that it's still one of my favorites and it hasn't aged badly like some albums do. To me, it's their most consistent and best album, with 'Pure' probably being their next best, I think (I have about 5 of their albums, not including a 2cd compilation). I've seen a few "professional" reviews which rate this album more 'middle of the pack' compared to a few Palomino releases, but I think those reviewers are categorically incompetent. On the other hand, I was first turned on to this album by a rock critic. He listed this as his favorite album of the year back in '86, so there were a few smart reviewers out there, I suppose.

Scattered comments - Syd Straw really shines on this album. I've heard a couple of her other solo albums and her contributions on this album are still my favorite by far. 'Diamond' cracks me up. The irony of a woman singing a song written from a bitter/frustrated mans perspective (penned by The dB's) adds to it's allure for me. The book-end cover songs she performs on are probably my favorites of the whole album.

This album has one Matthew Sweet song, way before he became popular in his own right. I had no idea who he was at the time, I just knew that I liked the song. Other than the Straw songs & the Sweet song, I really like 'Strong Simple Silences' and 'Work Was New'. The remaining 2-3 others are still good, but I'm not quite sure those tracks would be very popular for the average listener, however, a few other user reviews rate those songs highly, so maybe I'm wrong (ex.: 'Something Else is Working Harder' sung by Jack Bruce).

In conclusion, you should own this album!