Scenes From the Second Storey

The God Machine | Format: Audio Cassette

Product Details

• Audio Cassette (February 23, 1993)
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B00000ERID
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,596,346 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth whatever they're asking..., May 3, 2005

By 

E. Dietz "founder, Precision Funeral Engineering" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scenes From the Second Storey (Audio CD)

Simply one of the most dynamic, coherent rock albums ever made. Here's the formula:

Black Sabbath(-devil crap) + Pink Floyd(+testosterone) + Jane's Addiction(-Perry Farrell) + A dollop of Swans.

Yum. All killer, no filler. Bleak, beautiful vocals, humongous, majestic guitars, and a rythym section with a bottom end that'll shake your fillings loose. And bless their souls, they remembered the melody! You can hum all these songs to yourself when they're stuck in your head like a railroad spike. Try THAT with a Nine Inch Nails song.

While it is a shame they are no more due to the untimely death of bassist Jimmy Fernandez, let us take some solace in the fact that the number one factor that makes a great rock band legendary is the untimely death of a member. (Think about it: Stones, Who, AC/DC, Minutemen, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Led Zeppelin, Joy Division, Sex Pistols, et al; Black Sabbath and the Stooges get a mulligan because Ozzy and Iggy, by all rights, should be dead. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Blind Melon. But, for the most part, it's a pretty good yardstick. But I digress...) This makes for great bands because, well, there's an tangible quality of danger/sadness/madness in the music; one of these people is doomed. Goes way back to Robert Johnson at the crossroads, and you can definitely hear it here.

If there is a God, and He has any taste, He'd choose "The Piano Song" as the soundtrack for the apocalypse... piano and bass play a gorgeously sorrowful elegy while things start to fall apart in the background. It's all here, in one convenient package... lush orchestrations, bludgeoning riffs, blowtorch vocals, lullabyes that collapse into industrial accidents, all the things Skinny Nine Inch Marilyn Ministry wishes they could pull off...

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars About the God Machine, January 15, 2004

By 

Jax (Redondo Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scenes From the Second Storey (Audio CD)

OK - so lets clear up all the mystery about who the God Machine are....they are a trio originally from San Diego that formed the band while living in Camden, North London, England in the early 90's. In addition to this album they released a few EP's which I doubt you'll find - shame because they are genius. (Purity, Dessert Song, Ego ...)
They were picked up by Chris Parry, owner of Fiction records and the guy responsible for signing up the Cure .... amongst other triumphs.
The band sadly split up after the death of bass player, Jimmy, around 93.
Such a shame ... they were amazing live and would no doubt of produced other incredible work.
Robin-Proper Sheppard (former GM singer) now has a lable and band called Sophia - look them up.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Brilliant Album, February 26, 2004

By 

"floydrules" (Upland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scenes From the Second Storey (Audio CD)

A friend of mine gave me a promo copy of this album when he was working for Polygram records in 1992 or so. He didn't really know what it was, but he figured I would like it. I would put it in my top 5 albums of all time!!! The production style of Trent Reznor, the ethereal layers of Pink Floyd, the lyrical angst of the grunge movement and the power of Korn. The tragic loss of bassist Jimmy Fernandez will forever deprive the world of The God Machine's undeniable genius. To learn more, check out www.geocities.com/cdmunter/godmac2.html a very comprehensive fan site. And if you can, FIND THIS ALBUM or find tracks on an mp3 sharing site.