Customer Reviews

Moth Confesses

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

 

 

I originally purchased the vinyl album in 1968, or maybe early 1969. Yes, I still have the album but it has been played so much that the needle has almost worn the grooves out. I am tempted to challenge The Who as to what was the very first "rock opera", Tommy or The Moth Confesses. If you have never truly sat down and listened to this album then you should...the typical story, i.e., boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl years later but she isn't the same...or is it that he has changed. The Neon Philharmonic, penned by Tupper Saussey, only recorded 2 albums, the other entitled "Neon Philharmonic". I wish I could find the second album in CD form (I have the vinyl, it too in poor to-bad condition. If you have ever loved, lost and found only to walk away...listen.

Many people don't know this, but "The Moth Confesses" is one of the earliest "rock operas" if the term can be fairly applied to a collection of songs based on a central theme. It tells the story of falling in love for the first time and the innocence that goes with it, the eventual breakup, with the lovers eventually seeing each other later under radically different circumstances.

To be sure, this 1969 album sounds somewhat dated by today's standards, but the feel that it gives the listener is unique. One of the tracks on this album, "Morning Girl", was released as a single to a less than enthusiastic response. Maybe some of you will remember it for the line "read your box of Cheerios, and powder-puff that pretty nose, and go and find your man where the wild ones grow". I thought I'd never hear this record again and am glad to be reacquainted with it.

There is much about the Neon Philharmonic orchestra that will jangle your ears and maybe not make the initial creamy first impression. Don Gant's voice is kind of thin and warbly at times, but his earnestness will tip the scales favorably for you in the end; the orchestral arrangements may seem a little overblown and pompous at times, but one thing constant and present throughout that will anchor you in the humanity of each song is Saussy's piano, almost coming across as a lonely voice in all the orchestral noise. As for the album itself, it was supposed to be an opera about some guy who leaves a girl in his youth and tries to find her years later. Persevere, good listener-there is so much to be had from this fine album, however! "Brilliant Colors" is just that---a larger than life Willy Wonka-like orchestra almost literally takes your ear and you are transported to Saussy's own special memorial park of that one lost love; if you listen hard enough you can even almost hear a CCR riff for some odd reason! "Cowboy" is a neat song because of the jazzy bent. "The New Life Out There" will win you over just by the words alone (hey, America, get off your tail and find the new life out there!...); in a way this song is the mission statement for the album, as our narrator couldn't stay with his girl because he had to keep moving. Morning Girl is the big single from the album, complete with box of Cheerios reference. "Midsummer Night" has shades of MacArthur Park, but builds to a nice orchestral climax. "Little Sparrow" is the reason to buy this CD! It's as if everything that was ever gorgeous and good about the sixties was condensed into three all too short minutes. "The last time I saw Jacqueline" is a sad and winsome ode about our hero thinking back on the last time he saw his love in a café before she split; the song has a decidedly stillful mood compared to the sunshine of Sparrow. The last song in the opera cycle is "Morning Girl, Later" where our narrator presumably catches up with his lost love years later. More rushed than its earlier version, it builds to suitable vocal climax. The rest of the songs that follow are bonus tracks of various singles released by the band after Moth Confesses. "Heighdy-Ho Princess", complete with the orchestral touches, is more sardonic and less wistful than the previous songs. "Don't Know My Way Around My Soul" is a nice swing piece about the insecurities of love and commitment. "Flowers For Your Pillow" has a subtle soulful Motown lean to it. "Clouds" is the one song that doesn't work for me, because there are too many opposites: Gant's gentle voice moving into a loud moan, the twangy slide guitar competing with that orchestra, and where the heck were the clouds?? "Snow" works better, because of the imagery: snow falling into dreams, a girl falling into a far away meadow trying to hide from the sun, and falling into cookie jars!-the harp and piano reveal this song to be a nice metaphor for how things that seem like today's troubles may turn out to be tomorrow's treasures. "To Be Continued" is a great song and a great closer because it smiles and looks forwards into tomorrow-and in the end that is best that any of us can do!

I bought this album in vinyl 36 years ago, and practically wore it through. Don Gant isn't a polished singer, but that was one of his chief appeals. Backed up by imaginative instrumental work, these songs were very different from the pop music that was prevalent in '69. "Morning Girl" made it to radio, but, while it's a nice piece, it's surely the most mass-market-sounding cut on the album; there are other cuts which are much better, including "Morning Girl, Later." "The Last Time I Saw Jacqueline" is wistful and haunting. (And the little ghost voices travel most satisfyingly from one earphone to the other!) My favorite is "Brilliant Colors," though; that particular earworm has kept me buoyed through more than one bad day.

Maybe it's just a nostalgic longing for my youth, but I don't think so. This is a fine collection of unusual, if not ground-breaking, music.

I grew up listening to "Brilliant Colors," "Little Sparrow" and "Morning Girl." This trippy English music helped form my twisted perceptions of reality. I'm so glad I was able to find a copy!

It's difficult to say how I feel about this album. It's a stretch to call it rock. It is really more of a pop album. It almost classifies as easy listening because it is a very mellow sound. It's not a boring album, but other than a few good songs, it is not particularly interesting either. I think that maybe Neon Philharmonic was making music for which there was little or no audience (either then or now). The album hasn't aged well and there are so many better things available. In spite of its shortcomings, it is unique and interesting enough to listen to now and then and I am glad I own it. None of the bonus songs are particularly memorable, except Heighdy-Ho Princess which was and remains my favorite Neon Philharmonic song. I also very much like Morning Girl and Morning Girl, Later. Nothing on the album is bad; just not that many really good songs. The odd cover and odd name for the album make it interesting to own, even if you don't care that much for the music. Of course covers aren't as much fun, since the big LP records largely disappeared and we are stuck with tiny jewel case boxes and covers that are sometimes barely readable and have blurry pictures. Too bad this group didn't grow more and venture into some other areas, as I think they might have done well. They just didn't evolve from a rather sterile sound that didn't seem to interest that many listeners. Without the bonus songs, this would be a very short album. It includes 6 tracks not on the original album but still runs under 50 minutes.

I doubt that this is readily available anywhere. (Check out the $70 price for the CD on Amazon!) I got hung up on looking for it to see if there were other songs by The Neon Philharmonic beyond Morning Girl, which is still one of my favorites from the era. I bought it as used vinyl, promo copy. Oops. Morning Girl, Later is a cool and nearly an identical follow up but beyond that.... I was a disc jockey during the time this was released and if I had the opportunity to add it to my collection, I understand why I didn't. It's three stars for the nostalgic love of most music from those years not for the quality of the music overall.

Don't go looking for it but if you're into period pieces, pick it up if the price is right.(Obviously $70 is not.)

This album reminds me of when, in the late 60s, Sammy Davis Jr. or Dean Martin would go on TV, wearing love beads and flowers, their hands dancing with faux LSD moves. It was so contrived, it was funny in the most unintentional ways. Several points arise:

1-This is the worst Sgt. Pepperploxtation I know of. Neon Philharmonic take the worst psudo-psycadellia, and the worst soft rock mush, and put them together, making the horridness of the music actually grow expadentially.

2-Everything here is over-the-top and brash. The strings, horns, and vocals are all interesting in theroy, but it is as if one of the Texes hicks in Easy Rider got a copy of Forever Changes and decided to cut a record in a very expensiVe drug store booth.

3-The singer can't sing, and much worse, THINKS HE CAN!

But definately buy this. It is so bad, you need to have it, just for novalty value. (I remember being at a party completely sober and rolling on the ground laughing at this.) Everytime you buy a new CD of any genre, you'll be able to take this out, knowing your new purchace will be comparatively better.

Sundazed have released a lot of 60's treasures in their huge output, but this has to be one of the worst. I was looking for a melodic and light-psychedelic soft album. But this is just too plain boring and mellow. Heading off into a musical direction rather than pop-psychedelia. The compositions are ranging from very radio-friendly and commercial to slightly better ones with at least a hint of light pop-psych. Don't do my mistake and excpet a forgotten psychedlic album or even a decent forgotten 60's album, because it's neither.

Oh my God! This album is not excellent. I think these guys were smoking the doge! Oh my God! This album can't compare to in my opinion the best album of last year, Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park. Shut up when I'm talking to you. I was thinking about how a moth could confess and I was like whoah...that would be weird. And then Raul was like shut up anthe bitkos. And I was like, no you shut up, you fool. Do you know that moth's wings are made of carbo-hydro-benthenol. Oh my God! You can make sound bombs out of that, and people will think you're a badass. Especially if you see them and say, "What up?"

Peace out, brother,
Anthe Bitkos Ahn