Customer Reviews

Scenes From the Second Storey

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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...

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.

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.

Well that's it in a nutshell. This was the God Machine's debut album, the songs are so powerful, I bought this 11 years ago and still listen to it constantly and it still sounds fresh and new. The soundscapes are amazing - if you are into Godspeed you black emperor or explosions in the sky - you should like this because of the sheer intracacies of melody and the wall of sound that is built up. My favourite songs on this are 'out' and 'purity'. These are beautiful pieces of work and full of power and emotion - guaranteed to still bring shivers down my spine and tears to my eyes.

A truly wonderful album that is criminally underrated and far better than the pseudo-angst stuff that is available these days.Seek it out - your life will be better for it.

I don't know anything about this band. Where they are from, (I'm guessing it's England), or how many albums they have made. Far as I know there is another besides this one but have never been able to find it.
Anyway, this album kicks [tail]! The singing is rather mono-tone and the there are no searing guitar solos anywhere but it just flat out rocks! The best way I can describe it is to say that it is hypnotizing. Listen to it on headphones and you'll see what I mean. There is a lot of passion and heart in the songs and I don't mean of the whimpy variety either. When the singer belts out "Damn God" at the end of "I've Seen The Man" I just want to break stuff. This is a great album for anyone into collecting underground gems so if you can find it, buy it. You won't be dissapointed.

For some reason way back in the day I picked up this CD from the used section having no idea what it was like at all. I gave it a "chance" and was blown away buy the power they produced with such grace. It's something to listen to when you have the time to close you eyes and enjoy the album as a whole.

the God Machine's Scenes from the Second Storey was a cult classic growing up. All of my friends had a copy, which was odd because it was so difficult to find. I finally got mine through a z shop. The cd is fabulous, just as I remember it. Timeless. The drum work on here is quite brilliant. If you can find this in a used cd shop pick it up.

I gotta agree with these other freaks. This album is simply stunning and maybe a perfect record. I bought this when it was released and its still fresh on the playlist.

"...wrong side of the road!"Get this,invite your friends over,play it with the Volume set to 11,and just watch as,one by one, their jaws drop very quickly to the floor.

I first heard the God Machine in 1992 while listening to the radio at like 2 in the morning. I was drinking a beer and talking with a friend, and actually told him to 'shut up' because i was so stricken by the song and it's originality. That song was 'Ego'. I sought out the CD the very next day at a nearby Newbury Comics. I plopped it in and listened to the entire CD in near shock at how wonderful and refreshing it was. The following year I'd read in some obscure music publication that a second album was in the works... That year came and went and I never found it. I eventually found "one last laugh..." online and ordered it. Only upon further research did I find out that Jimmy Fernandez had died, thus ending the God Machine.

I have the pleasure of owning both albums by this profoundly amazing trio. I pull them out now and again. They stir me in ways that are hard to articulate. The feeling is very visceral, very daunting, but welcomingly beautiful.

Buy 'Scenes... ' if you can, you won't regret it. And if you can get your hands on 'one last laugh...' you won't be disappointed.