Customer Reviews

Red Earth

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

 

 

"I gave you my heart" is really good, but I could almost swear I I heard it in a David Lynch movie once, didn't I? Anyhow it could've been a radio single.

Overall, very good singing and mostly strong melodies. Lots of vibrato & reverb give it kind of deep, dark, bottom-of-the-ocean sound - appropriate enough since the lyrics all seem to be about getting dumped or something.

Too bad this is out of print, but it's worth snagging a used copy I think.

The CD reminds me of a more polished PJ Harvey with the same melancholy style of female vocals and nice guitar work. Overall an incredible find, I used to play this on the college radio station at U. of Wisconsin (one of my favorites). The title track, sky, down to the wire, bury her and it's not funny anymore are all songs that I play today and they turn heads. I know it's been 14 years but music hasn't changed all that much unless your a big fan of limp biscuit. Worth every penny!

Produced by Malcomn Burn (of Daniel Lanois fame), this debut album now long-since forgotten even in Canada (well, it's been about 14 years now) still "burns" brightly, if you'll pardon the pun.

Michelle MacAdorey's vocals are fine throughout, especially on the closer "Bury Her", but it's the backing vocalist Jocelyn Lanois who should have probably taken over lead duties on the whole album instead of the lone tune "It's Not Funny Anymore" which is the best track on the LP.

A decent cover of Neil Young's "Down To The Wire", the band's lone Canadian hit "Inside Out", and the moody, melancholic baby blues "One That Keeps Me Running" round out the album, which should find its way into every self-respecting music lover's collection.

Between 1989 and 1995, Crash Vegas recorded and toured in support of three full-length albums. "Red Earth" was their first and perhaps their finest: a slow-burn of a CD, brooding, often dark, but also full of well-crafted melodies. Michelle MacAdorey and Colin Cripps, the core of Crash Vegas and part of the same Toronto scene that includes Blue Rodeo, eventually parted ways in the late '90s. Cripps married and now records and tours with Kathleen Edwards; MacAdorey has recorded two albums with "experimental" Toronto-based guitarist Eric Cheneaux (a fascinating minimalist album, "Whirl", and a less succesful effort, "Love Don't Change"). It's a tremedous shame Crash Vegas never generated the industry buzz their music deserved. Red Earth, Stone, and Aurora are far better recordings than the subsequent output of these musicians. Give Red Earth a chance. I bought it in 1989, listened to it once, and put it on a shelf for three years! In 1992 I rediscovered it one rainy day, and after 18 years it's still one of my favourite albums.