Customer Reviews

Nights Behind the Tree Line

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A WARNING TO PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN THIS ALBUM!!! This is not like Henry's comedy spoken word albums. This album is very serious, and very intense. Anyone who knows Black Coffee Blues will be more prepared to listen to this.
On Nights Behind the Tree Line, Henry reads some passages from his excellent book "Solipsist" and also gives many other tracks that have never been released. Everything on this album is very intense and this album shows a whole new dimension to Henry. One particular track that highlights Henry's knowledge is "Parthenope". Parthenope was a siren in the story of Ulysses, and the way he weaves her into the story is magnificent. Among the most heavily sad and touching tracks are Johnny Hartman, Maya, Accident, and Polaroid. "visiting los angeles" actually has some humor injected into it, however it is very dark humor and still carries the heavy intensity of the other tracks.

In closing, as i said before, this album is a very serious album...Listen to this when you are in an introspective and reflective mood, otherwise, it will bring you down, or at least make you look deep inside yourself in a very critical way...

I love Henry Rollins Spoken Word shows...I always try to check them out when he is in town. Rollins is one of the most well-educated, well spoken celebrities I know of. However, this CD is the direct opposite of his live shows.

Dark -- Intense -- Emotional -- Shocking

These are the words that best describe this album. There is very little humor here, and it might put you in a bad mood. I have listened to this hundreds of times in my car, because the intensity of his stories and statements makes it impossible to understand it upon one listen. I compare it to reading a philosophy book.

Some tracks include a story about a friend of his named Maya who he's known for a while who tried to kill herself a few times, was a drug addict, and sold her body on the streets. It includes a story Maya told him about a girl she helped to commit suicide. "She washed down the pills with some milk. Maya said it helps you die better. The girl choked on her own vomit and died. Maya watched." This is what I mean - intense and dark.

There's also another story about a girl he was friends with for a while and then they became close one summer. He's returning home from a road trip to see her and come to find out, the day before he arrived, she died in a car accident.

Like I said...there's some humor, such as the segment about visiting the city of Los Angeles, the pollution, and the racism as well. However, most people I've played this to did not like it. You have to be a certain breed of human to appreciate this.

As other reviewers have stated, this is not a Rollins "spoken word" album, live in front of an audience and featuring Hank's own brand of stand-up comedy/social conscience. This is Rollins alone in a studio, speaking directly into a microphone at the listener. For many years I used to take a vacation to the Jersey shore with nothing but my guitar, a notebook, and a suitcase full of clothes and obscure CD's, and one year "Nights Behind The Tree Line" ended up in my suitcase. I listened to this album on the beach, on the boardwalk, and late at night alone in my hotel room, and it was a perfect companion during that time. (Also, this is not a bad album for a long plane flight or road trip by car.) The stories are frequently dark, but so are many of Rollins' books, (and definitely his music), so true fans of his will "get it." For the beginner I would recommend "The Boxed Life" or "Think Tank" CD's, or his spoken-word DVD "You Saw Me Up There", definitely not this disc. While "Nights Behind The Tree Line" may not be for everyone, fans of Henry's writing should not hesitate to purchase this, as it serves as an audiobook of some of his personal experiences and thoughts as well as readings from his book "Solipsist." I for one was won over by Rollins' description of the late singer Johnny Hartman in the opening track. Pick up a copy of Hartman's album with Coltrane if you need further reference, it's worth owning and makes Rollins' description of Hartman all the more believable. On a side note, Rollins is donating part of the proceeds from "Nights Behind The Tree Line" to a Los Angeles youth house, so some of your money will be going to a good cause. There may not be any happy endings on this disc, but really, isn't that what Disney movies and massage parlors are for?