Customer Reviews

Erewhon

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3 star:		(1)
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I have been a fan of Pere Ubu since their begining in the late 70's. David Thomas has always seemed to be special messenger, sent from another dimension to help us head our errant, self-destructive tendencies. The music of Erewhon is just that, a very special message. It is a heraldic presentation of modern life, in a world that is a merely a projection of puzzling ironies. From the opening song, "Obsession" through the haunting lament of "Fire" to the dancefloor feast of "Highway 61 Revisited, I hear the history of American musical expression. David and the Pale Boys are a divinely matched trinity of sentinels. They have caused a swell in my soul as I listen to this recording at least twice a day, in the car, in the office, and in my music room at home...the more volume, the better. I am filled!! But give me more!!

As an avid Pere Ubu fan for over 20 years I bought Erewhon without thinking twice. Dave Thomas is, as all Pere Ubu
fanatics know, the heart and soul of the band. His vision,
no matter how skewed it appears on the surface, is true and
easy "to get" by those in the know. On Erewhon however, Thomas gives the feeling that he has rehashed some of his ideas and mearly repackaged them. In fact, Thomas takes some lyrics verbatum from other Pere Ubu recordings. For example, he drones forth the line "like a house made of dry grass" slower, but with the same feel he did on the "Cloudland" recording. Erewhon is not without its merits (the ever amusing Thomas and some rockin grooves),but it fails to break any new ground, which is the very essence of what makes David Thomas and Pere Ubu rise above all other rock bands.