Customer Reviews

Phenobarb Bambalam

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

it's always puzzled me why Chris Connelly never got the respect he deserved, hell, everyone I know has no clue who he is, much less heard any of his material. this was the first cd that i listened to from him (at the time i didn't even have a clue he had any affiliation with Ministry) and it stunned me at how wonderful the music was. the depth of Connelly's songwriting is genius, and i still can't seem to figure out why this guy isn't on par socially with other eclectic songwriters like David Bowie or Lou Reed. this guy can go from heavy industrialized rockers ("Dirtbox Tennessee", "Ignition Times Four") to gentler tracks ("No Lesser of Two Evils", "Heartburn"), he sometimes finds a balance between the styles ("Come Down Here", "July") and manages to evenly throw it all in one album. Connelly's girlfriend committed suicide during the recording of Phenobarb Bambalam, which i'm assuming is one of the reasons why this album has an underlying darkness and eeriness to it.

it's refreshing to hear an album as original and creative as this, especially when original and creative is few and far between these days. hopefully in time more people will come across this album and hold it in such high regard as i do.. i could easily say this is in my top five of the most affecting albums i've ever had the pleasure of listening to.

It's kind of funny- when I first got this album it was way back in the day and I was into industrial and the Ministry/Revco/etc thing. So I picked this up and boy am I glad I did. I lost interest in the whole industrial scene but I suspect that is the reason this album is not well known- people probably suspect it to be in that vein but they could not be further from the truth. Conversely I think there are people who WERE looking for it to be a hard driving album and were dissapointed. Yes there are some elements in there, but this is a beautifuly constructed album and I would dare to say not a bad song on here. Looking back I would say it has aged quite well compared to other releases of the time. 5 stars are given quite liberally on Amazon, but this is truely worthy of 5 stars

This is a stunning album that seems to have fallen between the cracks. I've never known anyone that has that has heard of the album much less actually heard it. I suppose I would have to compare it to a vital Bowie at his very best. I say this because when I've played the album with people around they ask if it is the thin white duke.

I would suspect Connelly would have at least a Cult status/following similar to Aphex Twin or a Fripp, but he seems to have missed that boat as well.

About 15 years ago I saw an advertisement in Alternative Press for this album and I knew I had to buy it. (oddly enough I was 15 years old during that time) As there were no independent music stores in the town I grew up in, I found Phenobarb on tape at a local Camelot music store... I popped it in my player and I have never stopped listening to it. I did eventually upgrade my tape to a cd. It is a beautiful collection of songs sung by a wonderful & horribly underrated artist.

I agree with what other reviewers have said here, but think it's worth adding that not only are there some amazing songs on this record, but the band behind Connelly is awesome too. Martin Atkins is brutally good on drums and Chris Bruce adds some of the coolest guitar playing I have ever heard.

For a long time i was really into industrial and goth but knew nothing of the roots. It turned out that when I evicted a tenant from a building a stack of cd's were left behind, this among them. I ignored it for nearly four years and then one day noticed his name on another CD so i got curious and popped this in. this defines chris among the founders of the Goth/industrial circuit, along with jurgenson, koinetzko, with groops like einstruzed neubauten and 1000 homo djs. notice these are the most dissimilar of the genre meaning he i consider is responsible for a totalyly different branch but equally worthy as the others. the former review puts him in the same vien as other artists, my only question, how can you use other artists as a root of comparison with their father

Like myself and a lot of people, you associate Chris Connelly with Ministry, Revolting Cocks, and his work with KMFDM. I enjoyed his vocals on Ministry's "So What" so much that I decided to look into his solo album. This album is nothing like any of the aforementioned bands. There is very few remnants of industrial metal here, a lot of it is expiremental lounge jazz rock. Before this album, I didn't even know I liked music like this. It has opened my mind to appreciate so much more, if your looking for Ministry's Chris Connelly, you won't find him here, you'll find a well thought out and crafted album that is a pleasure to listen too.

The other guy's review works well enough here, I just thought I'd be a nice guy about the fact that a lot of people are looking for this album without knowing it, exactly. On the latest Pigface tour, Chris Connelly started the set solo with an acoustic guitar. If you've gotten this far looking for that first song, then yes, this is the album. (If you weren't there, it sounded incredible.)