Customer Reviews

Earth Sun Moon

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

 

 

This is one of the band's best albums. While it contains the popular hit "No New Tale to Tell" (a staple of 120 Minutes early years), it also has the Beatlesque "Rain Bird", the light shuffle of "Lazy" (which brings to my mind the "Singin in the Rain" sequence of A Clockwork Orange for some strange reason), the experimental jazz of "The Telephone is Empty". "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" (easily the album's best number) is a catchy pop ballad which examines one's inner spiritual beliefs. "Here on Earth" covers a similar philosophical theme, but neither song preaches, allowing the listener to come to his/her own conclusions. "Mirror People" is a whirling little psychedelic pop dance number, reprised on the last track in a slow version. "waiting for the flood" has one of those catchy, sing along verses. The album flows seemlessly from moody Goth-pop, acoustic aural landscapes, to all-out rockers without sounding forced.

Say what you will and disagree with me if you have to, but "Express" was acknowledged to be Love and Rocket's most universally acclaimed release if considered as their purest distillation of highly-melodic, aggressively-edged, guitar-driven psychedelia, building on many tracks to a sustained, explosive release, whether bringing over-driven, heavy modulation to bear through an effects rack,or blending it with acoustic riffing raised to a naturally elevated volume. You could hear this brought to fruition on "Kundalini Express", "All In My Mind", "Yin and Yang the Flower Pot Man", "It Could Be Sunshine", "Love Me", and "An American Dream".

So when "Earth Sun Moon" was released less than a year later, I was honestly looking forward to the sound crystalized on "Express" being extended and refined. What Love and Rockets wound up releasing was a recording largely dominated by psychedlically-tinged folk with pastoral overtones. "No New Tale To Tell" and "Mirror People" are the only tracks to contain truly explosive riffing, with "The Light" dominated by a heavily processed guitar that howls as it exits the song at its climax. "No New Tale To Tell", the only single that was in widespread release within the US, uses a flute solo to greater effect during its bridge than one of Ash's savory, understated, yet compelling guitar refrains.

Apart from the heavily-processed guitar drones laid down in reversion on "The Telephone Is Empty" and complemented by a psuedo-jazzy saxophone chorus, most of the remaining tracks on the CD base their formative structure around acoustic and organic instrumentation, the highlights including "Welcome Tommorow", 'Waiting For The Flood", the title track, and "Youth".

The lyrical content of "Earth Sun Moon" continues to explore themes from "Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven" and "Express"; significance imparted to the place in the universe that man should actually inhabit, the elevation of spirit, personal enlightenment, the search for transcendence from the human condition, and the importance of connections forged on a personal level.

And while not as cohesive as "Express", "Earth Sun Moon" nevertheless possesses enough in the way of familiar reference points to promote a sense of continuity. Not as lively and energetic as "Express", it imparts a meditative vibe, and is worth getting for the gorgeous melodic arrangments that flow through it.

What a wonderful sonic excursion into psychedelic mindspace. Mr Ash weaves beautiful musical structures that seem to exist in the timeless space inbetween the moments.

I first heard "No New Tale to Tell" on the radio. I was driving past the beach when it came on, and it blew me away. It is still one of my favorite songs and, oddly, still reminds me of driving past a beach. Go figure.

The rest, sadly, is to some degree lower in quality. I happen to like the bluesy "Lazy," the somber "Waiting For the Flood," and, well, pretty much the whole acoustic second half of the disc. "Mirror People" has a Jesus and Mary Chain feel to it, which I consider to be a good thing. But nothing really jumps off the disc into my head like "No New Tale to Tell." So I'd say it's a good solid disc and well worth owning if you like the Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division, early REM, the Smiths, and the Jesus and Mary Chain (etc etc etc). Very much an album of its time.

I bought this when it was originally released and I still listen to it today. I realized what a great record this was when on several occasions, when I was listening to it at my job the time (I worked at a Radio Shack in Akron, Ohio) I had someone ask me who it was and they wrote it down because they wanted to go buy it. I found the lyrics on this album the most personal of any L&R record. Although they went on to more comercial success with their self titled "Love and Rockets" release, I think this album stands the test of time as their strongest.

"Earth Sun Moon" could not help but be a little bit of a disappointment after a great album like "Express." Love and Rockets return to the more acoustic-dominated sound of the dark and magnificent "Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven" (my favorite L&R album) but with less satisfying results. "Mirror People" and "No New Tale To Tell" were the obvious - well, only - choices for singles. Along with these two, I liked "Waiting For The Flood," the somber "The Light" and the soothing title cut, but the rest seems uninspired and falls a little flat. "Earth Sun Moon" is not a terrible album by any means, but it is not an especially good one, either. Still, it was much better than the subsequent self-titled effort.

My musical tastes tend to be all over the place, depending on my mood. When I'm feeling introspective and relaxed this is one of my favorite recordings to listen to in headphones quiet evenings.

I bought this album 11 years ago (on the strengths of "Mirror People" and "No New Tale to Tell") and still listen to it regularly; most of the other albums I bought back then are in boxes now.

The songs alternately feel spacy, glittery, sad, and hopeful, yet they all flow together in order. Beautiful!

Daniel Ash is the best (and cutest) guitarist ever.

(I agree with the headphones suggestion, but the first half of the album--"side one" in the olden days--makes great driving music, too.)

I really liked this album, but I must say, their previous album Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven (1985) is my favorite. Their album Hot Trip to Las Vegas was a big disappoitment. The problem with these guys is that they are inconsistent from album to album. Only Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven and Earth Sun and Moon manage to offer compatibility in style. Chances are, if you like Earth Sun and Moon, you'll appreciate Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven. But, I no longer trust them. They were at their best in the 80s.

The song,'Everybody Wants to go to Heaven'.. It's a very beautiful song, and reminds me of Gospel music.