Customer Reviews

Chagall Guevara

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4 star:		(3)
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This group is doomed to the dust of history thanks to:
an awful name (The group implies they intended it to mean "revolutionary art" {from painter Marc Chagall and revolutionary Che Guevara}, lack of touring, the band's reluctance to discuss their lyrics in interviews, and the band's marriage of withering sarcasm to reluctant optimism. This review then serves as a memorial to the "revolutionary art" that was Chagall Guevara, consisting of lead vocalist Steve Taylor, drummer Mike Mead, guitarist L. Arthur "Lynn" Nichols, guitarist Dave Perkins, and bassist Wade Jaynes. Combine jangly guitars, Elvis Costelloesque sarcasm, and the skewed lyrics of Barenaked Ladies or They Might be Giants in a blender and you've got a starting point for the sound of Chagall Guevara.

HIGHLIGHTS:
The "friction of joy and misery" comes from the planet finding itself in the death throes of "Murder in the Big House". An environmentalist treatise? A remark on the collapse of societal mores? A take on the end of the self-satisfied consumerism rampant in the U.S. in the 80s? Take your pick..."Escher's World", a tribute to the illustrator of the mind-boggling optical illusions, is its own defiance of natural order.

Powerbrokers take their licks in "Play God" as what sounds like drunken New Orleans brass join in the funeral march. The epic "Monkey Grinder" uses the imagery of a "fat man" street-corner entertainer as overseer, tightening the collar of the monkey "working stiffs" until the day "some say it just unhooks its jaws/Then it swallows most anything it wants/even a full grown fat man".

"Candy Guru" puts religious hucksters in its crosshairs. ("It was a willing seduction/the apple was bitten/primed and smitten/by a sense of belonging somewhere/I didn't deserve") Everclear's Art Alexakis will probably add it to the setlist if he ever hears divorce angst anthem "The Rub of Love" ("Every other week on visiting day/I get tolerated by his new wife/I swear, if he ever really held me/they'd have to pry me off with the jaws of life"). A plea to weather the storms of marriage follows with "If It All Comes True" ("And if it all comes real/confirming this fear that I feel/oh, my love, come stand by me")

LOWS:
"The Wrong George" is a novelty that's funny once but forgettable thereafter. It apparently was a wrong number call made to the band's guitarist by accident by a slightly kooky old lady who wanted a different Dave Perkins. Taylor sounds a bit shrill on "Take me Back to Love Canal" making it one of the weaker tracks here.

BOTTOM LINE:
The writing here is first-rate. Many of the songs succeed on several levels..they're about what YOU think they're about. Devoid of any then-trendy early 90s grunge sounds, it's held up surprisingly well. The sound is unique enough that it's hard to say "If you like Band X, you'll like Chagall Guevara." But I would imagine fans of intelligent, snarky alternative rock will find quite a few joys on this criminally overlooked CD.

It's hard to describe precisely what Chagall Guevera's music is, except that with a name like that, you can't expect it to be sugarcoated or in any way comfy. It's unfortunate that there is no more music like this by this group, because what there is is extremely entertaining.

Mathematicians can rejoice with "Escher's World," a slightly amusing song based on Escher's prints ("up's down, down is out, out is in/stairways circle back to where you've been/time falls, water crawls, are you listenin'?"), the slightly mocking-seeming "Play God" ("and you still play God/how'd you get so good?"), the more quietly-sung "Can't You Feel The Chains," the fast-paced "Violent Blue," the slightly amusingly-written "Take Me Back To Love Canal," the my-dad-left-my-family lament "Rub of Love" ("if he ever really held me/they'd have to pry me off with the jaws of life") and others.

I'm not sure why, with the "alternative" feel and lyrics like "lay down/strip it off/and lose yourself," this is classified as Christian music. The music in this album is rough and often raw, such as the guitar playing in "Murder in the Big House," or the drums in "Escher's World." The songs in it are often a bit surreal, but overall I found it entertaining and very far from the mainstream.

CHAGALL GUEVARA must've been doomed just because of their name. They have nothing to do with the great painter, and they weren't responsible for the Cuban revolution. At least I don't think they used to "hang" with Che Guevara. Other than the terrible band name, this is a great CD. It stands up today just as strong as it did on its release during the birth of "Alternative" music. While most Alternative wasn't a true Alternative to anything, Chagall Guevara was. Who else breaks up their big debut of Working For MCA to play a cool instrumental while you hear the conversation of Dave Perkins talking to a slightly kooky grannie convinced she is talking to her nephew. NOW THAT'S ALTERNATIVE! There isn't a misfire in any of these tracks. "Candy Guru" and "Love Is A Dead Language" would've made great radio friendly singles, but the album got lost in the Nirvana shuffle and the band didn't get noticed on the first track out of the gate, "Murder In The Big House." Maybe it was because the band got stuck with the Christian music label when bands like U2 have shown music is just MUSIC (unless your album consists solely of the repeated manra "Jesus" 3,000 times. CHAGALL GUEVARA KICK OUT THE JAMS! ("Take Me To Love Canal" probably won't end up in the Baptist hymnal.) HOOK friendly Rock and Roll, at its BEST from 1991! Uh, HELLO! Time for a reunion record. P.S. "check" out yet MORE CG in the form of "Tale o' the Twister" from PUMP UP THE VOLUME! Good advice!

I purchased this CD when it was originally released based on a review I read in a magazine. I was not disappointed! Of course, the fact that this project involved the brilliant and creative Steve Taylor on vocals made it a sure winner. The other reviews above describe the music pretty well -- at least, as best as one can possibly describe it. Most of it rocks pretty good, with the exceptions of Can You Feel the Chains? and Candy Guru, which are gorgeous soft rockers. This CD is worth every penny if you can find a copy. I've not heard anything quite like it. If you enjoy the kind of music that slowly grows on you and eventually becomes one of your favorite CD's, get Chagall Guevara! There's not a bad track on it.

Why do such awesome groups die so quickly? Great, great talent in this group for one amazing CD. If you ever stumble across this beauty do not hesitate to buy it. An excellent mix of amazing lyrics and stellar music. "Murder in the Big House" is a classic about screwing up our own planet. "Escher's World" will make you look for the dictionary while you replay the song again and again. "If It All Comes True" is one of my favorites. Great song about marriage and working through tough times. "The Rub of Love" is a great story telling song about an absent father ("I swear if he ever really hugged me, they'd have to pry me off with the jaws of life...")

Steve Taylor never fails to thrill me. Too bad, this is his one and only try with this legendary group of talented musicians.

i don't think i have written 10 or so reviews on here, but just in case someone wanders over to this...i have a couple of hundred gigs of music, hundreds of cd's and am kind of over the top about music...i would have to put this in the top 3 discs of everything i own, the songs have variety, steve taylor has a way of skewering all kinds of people, phony Christians, phony non-Christians, anti-God bigots, pretend-intellectuals, his lyrics are sure to offend someone, and that makes him all the better, the musicianship on this is really nice, good mixing, clean sound, i just can not recommend this highly enough...alas i don't think they have any other stuff, steve taylor on his own is pretty good, but i don't think nearly as good as when he was in this one-disc group, great stuff

...........this is the best album you've never heard by a group you'll never hear from again. It's out of print so you'll have to buy it used from other sellers or Ebay but do yourself a favor and buy it!!!!! Mark T.

I cannot give the long and drawn out individual review each song, or even find the deep meaning of this whole project. What I can say is being a Steve Taylor fan since the mid-eighties I was happy to see a new release. Looking through the new music at Christian book store back in 1991, I saw the sticker "See what Steve Taylor is up to". I don't regret buying it, and my friends are kicking themselves for not. The whole CD was his best work he had done to date and would only be challenged by "Squint" in 1995 for that honor. I will not tell you of my favorites, you need to find you own. So get your hands on this little known project and enjoy.

This CD is a must have for any Steve Taylor fan. In short there is no bad project from Steve, but don't miss this one.

This is one of those obscure CD's that it seems only the most avid music lover would know about, but they have a unique sound. If you are looking for something a little different, give it a go!! When I first picked this CD up I couldnt keep "Cant You Feel The Chains" out of my player. By far the best song. About the only negative I can say about the group is that the vocalist has this "Donald Duck" lisp to his voice. As I listen to the tracks I envision everybody in the first couple rows at a concert being sprayed with saliva. It's like he cant quite get his tongue out of the way when he sings!!! But after a while, that becomes part of the sound and some of what sets the group apart from the rest. Advise---give it a listen.