Customer Reviews

Index Masters

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

 

 

Wall of Voodoo's music is in it's own category; it is fun music; it is thinking man's music; all at the same time. This super extended version of their first album is worth it for just the first three songs: Longarm, Passenger, and "Can't Make Love". These are their "cleanest" fast-percussion, fast-lyrics and are in perfect form, stripped down to just the life of the music. The live songs are all cool because the guys were a fun bunch when playing live. Between this album and "Call of the West" was "Dark Continent" which is the best of the Stan Ridgway Wall of Voodoo. Later, Andy Prieboy (of "White Trash Wins Lotto" fame) led the singing on "Seven Days in Sammystown", their best album because it adds a romping dark richness. Buy them all. Beg for their reissue...I need backup copies!

This is such a good album that probably wasn't successful commercially . It's a total injustice. No one since has made a sound like Wall of Voodoo-- swirling synthesizers, western guitars, quirky drums, lyrics about fictitious individuals. I like this album even better than the follow-up, Call of the West.

This is a great album, but not for the casual listener. If the only reason you like Wall of Voodoo is their hit "Mexican Radio", stick to the Call of the West album.

I want to say that the cover of Ring of Fire is a sterling example of what a cover song should be. It's not just re-played, it's re-invented; other examples would be Devo's cover of the Stone's "Satisfaction", Nirvana's cover of Devo's "Turnaround", Frente's cover of "Bizarre Love Triangle", the Damned/Motorhead's cover of "Ballroom Blitz" and Rasputina's cover of "Brand New Key". I could go on, but Wall of Voodoo's ring of fire is something special.

If you think you'll like the quirkyness of early Devo spiced with the flavor of spaghetti western music, you'll like this. Otherwise I can't recommend it.

Two years ago, the only Wall of Voodoo song I had ever heard was "Mexican Radio," from the Call of the West album, and I didn't even know the name of the band that sang it. Until I met a man named Bessa who knew of this band called Wall of Voodoo, and an album called Index Masters. The first time I heard the song "Longarm," I listened carefully to the words, trying to figure out the meaning of its title. Obviously, the song is about a factory. As is the hit tune "Factory" from the Call of the West album. I wasn't totally sold on Index Masters, until I heard a song that changed my opinion about Wall of Voodoo forever. A remake of an old Johnny Cash song. A song called "Ring of Fire." For days I could listen to that song, thumping deep in the pit of my stomach with the bass turned all the way up, the screeching of the guitars as it wailed out a finale, and the half singin/half speaking voice of Stan Ridgway. Now, I am a die-hard Wall of Voodoo fan, at the young age of 18. I wasn't even born when they first joined forces. The fun, and interesting songs on the Index Masters album will live on forever, with generations after generations learning the wonder of Wall of Voodoo, thanks to The Almighty Bessa.

The Index Masters really shows the raw side of an early Wall Of Voodoo. "Longarm" starts with a simple drum machine beat and a crunchy guitar. It is followed by wonderful synths and Stan's voice with a laid back "Let's go"... The song is catchy and filled with dark tones and eerie synth soundscapes. "The Passenger" is a very potent song about a hijacked plane, which rings true in these times of terrorist threats and violence. "Can't Make Love" with its tongue-in-cheek, brutally honest lyrics and its fun new wave atmosphere is a real treat to listen to, especially for an average day player, with Stan singing "I'm a nice guy/But I don't love you/ I just wanna sleep with you". The album continues with an eerie instrumental "Struggle", as well as the popular cover "Ring Of Fire", which is one of the most unique and ingenious covers I have ever heard. There is no drums, just a rhythmic synth creating a set rhythm for the song. Stan sings the song with a crisp, smooth country-tinged voice as Marc Morelands beautiful guitar fills and riffs create a real enjoyable tune. The song ends with Marc going ape on his guitar, using a bunch of distortion, but it isn't annoying or unpleasant, it really adds to the song. The strange instrumental "Granma's House" ends the studio set, and is then followed by ten live tracks from 1979, starting with the song that Stan said was the first song he and Marc wrote, it being then the first official Wall Of Voodoo song, "End Of An Era". The live tracks are lo-fi, but not as bad as some other reviewers made it out to be.

If you wanna hear the freshly born Wall Of Voodoo or you are a hardcore fan looking for a great album, pick up "The Index Masters". I would also recommend the extremely rare "Dark Continent", as well as "Call Of The West" to get the best of the Stan Ridgway/Joe Nanini Wall Of Voodoo era. Great stuff.

There are only two bands that ever used the synthesizer for good, not evil. They were The Who and, of course, Wall of Voodoo. When I heard their version of "Ring of Fire" blasting from my college's radio station back in '81 I knew I had to have the record. The rest of the material definitely lived up to what I had already heard. Now I usually hate country music, but I always appreciated the way Johnny Cash could tell his tales. The man is a legend, and deservedly so, but along come these guys to take his song to higher levels. "Can't Make Love" is the equal of "Ring of Fire", and either alone would be enough to get your money's worth here, but you get both and the other great original music. The only downside of this CD is that some of the added material is barely above filler quality, knocking this down to 4 stars.

I love Wall of Voodoo, but this CD is unacceptable. The live tracks sound like it was recorded on a cassette tape that is very old. When I have a tape that sounds that bad, I throw it out, same with this CD. It now lives in the local dump.