Customer Reviews

Grand Guignol

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Amazon seem not to be showing the art for this CD. Wonder if that has anything to do with the severed head that graces the cover - apparently an archival photo from god-knows-where. No doubt Zorn collects this sorta stuff. Other cover art on the insert include lots of severed limbs and an image of doctors dissecting a corpse. The music is suitably dark and sick. The Grand Guignol, if you don't know -- don't worry, I didn't either, til recently -- was a notorious theatre in France where you could see these really bloody, gory, sensationalistic plays that featured stuff like autopsies on stage, brutal murders, etc. -- sort of a real-life version of the Theatre of Vampires in Rice's (or Jordan's, if you prefer) INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. Audience members often fainted, vomited, or fled performances there. The name of the theatre has come to refer to a certain brand of over-the-top, garish shlock. Using this as the conceptual starting point, Naked City fashion a dark, brooding, disturbing CD that references contemporary classical music more than a lot of their output, including really nice takes on compositions by Messiaen and Debussy, and the lengthy title cut, composed by the band -- a fifteen minute or so chamber of musical horrors, with the feel of a Satanic circus. Then, though this isn't really noted anywhere, once the dark, brooding stuff is over, you're treated to the WHOLE OF the TORTURE GARDEN CD, which had been pulled from distribution 'cos of the grotesque Japanese cover art (Asian man peeling off the face of a young girl to lick her exposed eyeball). TORTURE GARDEN, of course, is more of that hysterical speedmetal thrash that Zorn loves so much (and that can be kinda taxing to listen to). Titles include "The Ways of Pain," "Thrash Jazz Assassin," "New Jersey Scum Swamp" and more. This is about as dangerous a Zorn CD as you're likely to be able to listen to (to distinguish it, say, from JUDE and other such dangerous Zorn CDs that no one I know is able to listen to.) But, uh, not for the faint-hearted. Jazz snobs may not like some of the advice Zorn gives'em on this disc, either.

Message to John Zorn/Naked City fans: this is the import CD to waste your money on-- a dark mysterious nugget, an almost alien experience. As an added bonus, the third part of the CD is almost the complete Torture Garden sessions.

File under Music for Performing Vivisection.

Grand Guignol is a wonderful album. It contains three very different sides to Naked City. First there is the long title track which features a lot of sustained guitar and percussive madness. Next, Zorn arranges classical pieces by Debussy, Scriabin, Messaien, Di Lassus and Ives, all doing the originals justice, especially Debussy's "La Cathedrale Engloutie" and Scriabin's Preludes Opus 74. The third and final section is 34 pieces of Zorn's famous "thrash jazz" - kind of a thrash metal/jazz hybrid with absolutely everything else in between. The best thing about Naked City is the fantastic musicians - Zorn's singing/squealing sax, Bill Frisell's ever-so-versatile guitar playing, the funky Wayne Horvitz on keyboards, the amazingly talented Fred Frith on bass and godlike drummer Joey Baron. Who could ask for more? Well, there's also guest vocalists Yamatsuka Eye and Bob Dorough. An absolute highlight is "Speedfreaks", which attempts to merge over 20 different musical styles in about 45 seconds! Check this album out if you want something new and exciting.

Dark. Sensual. Violent. Labyrinthian. Schizophrenic. Provocative. Unpredictable. Innovative. And not the least bit humorous. The first time I heard the work of this artist, I knew immediately that this was groundbreaking musical work. So many ideas and contradictory emotions surged into my nervous system when listening to this music that I couldn't help but laugh in TOTAL ASTONISHMENT of what I was hearing. The work of John Zorn is High Art. If you want to listen to something different...I mean REALLY DIFFERENT, listen to Grand Guignol. Otherwise...there's always the list of Top 40 mainstream glossy musical products to choose from. Not for the faint at heart.....unless you like fainting!

"Grand Guignol" is John Zorn's tribute to the infamous Parisian Museum of the macabre and to the darker side of us all. It begins with renditions of selected (roundabouts) 20th Century classical pieces, including Debussy's impressionst, "The Sunken Cathedral." I love Zorn's interpretations of these pieces, especially the Debussy. I have heard criticism of Zorn's interpretive abilities before, regarding this record as well as "Spy Vs. Spy," "The Big Gundown," and others. Well, I see it differently. Even on the rare occasion that he makes a choice that I don't agree with, I still appreciate where he is coming from. He is very specific in his intent as an interpreter and he does not, as detractors have stated, simply eliminate or replace the original emotion of the piece, but rather, magnifies certain aspects, modifies others; he uses his imagination and filters the music through his own very strong personality and paradigm. In short, he does what an interpreter/arranger should do. It is what any composer does when he assumes this role. I digress.

Suddenly, Grand Guignol changes directions severely and assaults the listener with the most cynical, brutal music imaginable. The cacaphony is interspersed with snippets of cliched, calculted insincerity. This music is heartless, but it is this heartlessness that gives it its heart. It is that strange post-modern phenomenon when irony turns back in on itself and becomes sincerity. In a chaotic world that is only becoming more and more so, truly nihilistic art can strike a sentimental chord.

You cannot escape the grotesque, detatched, ugliness of this record. If you let it, it will take you places. Great performances from the whole band.

I first heard of John Zorn from watching the Austrian movie "Funny Games", which included the songs Bonehead and Hellraiser. When I heard them, I knew I needed to find out more about John Zorn. After learning he was a "jazz musician", I was surprised, since I could only think of the stereotypical jazz. But, after a little reading I found out he's definitely not typical. And that he had a couple different music projects, including the band Naked City.

I was at first a little disappointed that the tracks are so short, the smallest being "The Noose" at 10 seconds. But, I love the music.. It's incredibly angry, tormented, haunting and twisted. Kinda like a soundtrack to some strange horror movie. Avant-garde, classical, experimental, punk, noise, jazz, thrash metal all on one album, and sometimes in the same track. Yamatsuka Eye does the vocals, howling, snorting, grunting and screaming like a madman.

Tracks 2-8 are classical pieces by the likes of Debussy (La Cathedrale Engloutie), Scriabin (Three Preludes op 74.), Di Lassus (Prophetiae Sybillarum), Ives (The Cage) and Messiaen (Louange A L'eternite De Jesus) that set a dark and interesting mood. The cover of the album features a severed head and the back has a picture of a pile of severed feet. The inside announces "Decades before our modern tradition of Splatter films, the Grand Guignol served up torture, incest, blood lust, mutilation and death to generations of fervid spectators. But The Grand Guignol is not simply the theater of horror that shocked Paris for 65 years from 1897 to 1962. It is the celebration of the darker side of our existence. It has always been with us. It always will be."

So, I definitely think Naked City will not be for all tastes. But, I love it, I think it's awesome. I'm glad I bought it, to me it's worth the price. If you're interested in goth, or the "darker side of existence", you may want to check this out.

Chances are, if you are looking at this right now you are pretty familiar with Naked City and their quirky, multi-genre songs.....this album is no different. Track 1 "Grand Guignol" is 17 minutes long and full of suitably distrubing sounds. Tracks 2-8 are all cover songs; Naked City versions of songs by Debussy, Scriabin and others. Tracks 9-41 are where the real adventure begins. The songs are fast and brutal, the longest being "Osaka Bondage" which clocks in at 1:14. Put rock/jazz/grindcore/noise into a blender and mix thoroughly and viola, you have Naked City. There is no way to describe the sound that Naked City creates, these guys are just too good!

In case anyone were to think Zorn's Naked City project would even attempt to repeat their previous album, Zorn and company produced something wholly other. The album essentially comes in three sections-- the title track, ranging at 17 minutes, a series of covers of works by Debussy, Scriabin, Di Lascus, Ives and Messiaen, and 33 "hardcore miniatures", none of which are longer than 1:18 and most of which hover around 30 seconds. I'll tackle the album in its sections.

The first part, "Grand Guignol", is stunning. Drums over ambient haze open the piece which moves through dark, chruning, delicate, quiet, sensual moods, building to something only to explode about ten minutes in, but just when you think its fired in intensity, it collapses back to its structure, only now more prodding, more urgent. This exchanges with the aggressive sections for the rest of the piece. What is compelling is that Zorn manages musically to portray something dark and horrible, the fear and horror the theatre sought to portray is clearly illustrated in this music. And Zorn's crying sax towards the end (around 12 minutes) of the piece is among the most anguished any performance on the instrument has ever been given.

The second part is quite unexpected, given the context of the other Naked City material-- the pieces performed are rendered with a stunning beauty, almost orchestral in many cases, there's no genre bending to speak of, the performances are pretty straight. The Debussy piece in particular is startling for its orchestral beauty, and Bob Dorough guest appearance and eccentric vocal style does great things for "The Cage" (Ives).

The third part is really kind of hard to describe-- in each of these pieces, the challenge appears to be to make a coherent statement in a genre or six in a brief time. Remarkably, this works a whole lot better than you would anticipate-- several of the tracks are standout, but really its all quite stunning, in both its intensity and its ability to BE coherent in such a short amount of time, and even more remarkable is that the only time I lose interest listening to this form is when the pieces stretch slightly longer, it seems to be a genre built for 30 seconds. While much of it is remarkable ("Thrash Jazz Assassin", "Bonehead", "Billy Liar"), its really "Speedfreaks" that qualifies of note. It somehow manages to change roughly every two and a half seconds, quoting literally a couple dozen songs in the act, and yet, somehow, unbelievably, it sounds coherent.

This one is a bit less accessible (if that makes sense) than and doesn't hold together quite as well as the Naked City debut, but its quite interesting, and it has a nice range of material on it. Recommended.

Note: This album is from The Complete Studio Recordings.

Naked City just might have originated the extreme example of how a band can do a ______load of different musical faces without sacrificing quality (making it a shtick than an actual authentic sound doesn't hold water, Beck). Sure, mixing genres has been done since the dawn of time, but how many rock bands before Naked City did jazz, hardcore, ambient hazes over trash metal and country, and songs like Speedfreaks? Mr. Bungle may come close, but it would be too confusing since they released albums sparingly in the 90's.

Grand Guignol is another face to the band. The album is divided into three sections, and like Michael Stack, I will review the album by sections.

The title track, is terribly interesting. The hazy parts, between many other passages, there's quite a bit. The hazy parts are probably the most interesting to listen to, how some are creepy, some just slither, others are just silence with a door slam. Everything time I listen to it, easily, a creepy hotel or theater comes to mind (yeah, hotel isn't exactly matching of the title track, but what do I care?). The other parts it are great as well. The drum solo is one of my favorites, not just because it's a monstorous bonzo-like solo, but the way it echos and just feels like it belongs with the mood. Not something you can pass judgement on first listen, but it rewards some patience. I hated it when I first heard it. I found it really boring. Also, since you have the remastered version (you better), you hear Patton's dimensions to it as well.

The second part, the "hardcore minitures", are the best. I was kind of disappointed at the lack of hardcore songs on the debut, since I was quite drawn to Eye's totally awesome screams. This guy makes Patton look weak in the scream and insane department, really, though Patton impresses in other ways (still think he's a great singer, especially with Bungle).
And the music rips. Plenty of variety in the grind, this is what grind should be like, with many types of genres, nuances, changes, and other stuff to actually hold your interest. I won't lie, not all the tracks are winners, but most of it is high quality stuff. Speedfreaks is easily the highlight here, covering a ______load of genres.

The last part is classical covers. These ones are all highly listenable, and have a great sound. Sure, some of them are better than others. The preludes are beautiful enough, great moods in short bursts. The Cage has some really interesting atmosphere with good vocals to boot. The sudden stop is confusing, but hey, it's good. The real star, in my opinion is the cover of the piano piece La Cathedrale Engloutie. A story of a cathedral that rises from the water, the textures are brilliant, an aqua sound. The climax is stunning in it's imagery and emotion. Cleary the highlight of this section.

While not quite five star material, it's easily one of their strongest albums. A great record, and it does what it accomplishes with ease. Enjoy it out of the box!

8.5/10

3 1/2

Often overlooked (like most Naked City albums after their legendary self-titled) follow up is not to be overlooked by fans of Zorn and company's Classical side, despite shady repetitions of material. Tacking on a heaping pile of schizophrenic mini-blasts taken straight from Torture Garden sessions might not have been smart, but contrasting that latter half with some of the band's more subtle, pretty instrumentation in covering several composers is. Of course your epic lead-off track specializing in measured bursts of musical irrationality, which happens to be these artist's forte, does not hurt either.