Tom Verlaine

Tom Verlaine | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 21, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collector's Choice
• ASIN: B00006RYJ0
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,735 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #87 in Music > Indie Music > Rock > Rock Guitarists

Track Listings

1. The Grip Of Love

2. Souvenir From A Dream

3. Kingdom Come

4. Mr. Bingo

5. Yonki Time

6. Flash Lightning

7. Red Leaves

8. Last Night

9. Breakin' In My Heart

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

New York punk/new wave trailblazers Television recorded only two albums before frontman Tom Verlaine set off on a solo career that began with this 1979 release. As a guitarist, Verlaine produces a range of styles and textures, much like he did with his old band. His sneering vocals serve up straight-ahead rock songs ("Grip of Love") as well as funnier, stranger visions ("Mr. Bingo"). The accompaniment is stark; Television's bassist Fred Smith appears throughout and B-52's guitarist Ricky Wilson makes an appearance. A simple beat and minimalist backing fit Verlaine's corkscrews and riffs perfectly. This set hasn't aged as well as its follow-up, Dreamtime, but the thinness here brings Verlaine's voice in close, where it casts an unmistakable light on the onset of everything from the Violent Femmes to emo-core. --Andrew Bartlett

Product Description

We don’t know which makes us more proud: that we are releasing this classic album on CD for the first time, or that Tom himself consented to write the liner notes for our release! Includes "The Grip of Love," "Souvenir from a Dream," "Kingdom Come," "Mr. Bingo," "Yonki Time," "Flash Lightning," "Red Leaves" and "Last Night" before winding up with the classic "Breakin’ in My Heart." It’s one of the best "solo" records ever, and it’s a Collectors’ Choice Music exclusive!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alternate "rejected" mix exhilarating, April 29, 2003

By 

pogo "jb" (Halifax, NS Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tom Verlaine (Audio CD)

I have been a Verlaine fan for over twenty years, even putting down the cash for the original CD version of this, his terrific solo debut. (Yes, it was indeed released previously on CD as a German import, with lyrics hilariously mis-transcribed in the liner notes by "Stanley"). When I read that the Collector's Choice version had the ORIGINAL mix, which I'd read about as a bootleg, I immediately bought it online for that very reason.

Comparing the two mixes shows that Bob Clearmountain, called in to clean things up back in '79, beefed up the bottom and smoothed the edges. The "new" alternate mix is hard to listen to uncritically at first; it initially sounds rawer, particularly the vocals. But the details are fascinating, and keep pulling me back for more -- so much so that I now prefer some of the alternate. Catch Verlaine's own revelatory mix of "Breakin' in My Heart," for instance. Clearmountain's mix, though a tremendous song, doesn't prepare you for the amazing sonic cross-currents Verlaine was able to put down in the studio. The actual SOUND seems three-dimensional. His guitar is edgier, with more bite, the harmonics are more complex. Jay Dee Daugherty's drumming is like thunder come down to earth (ditto Allen Schwartzberg on "Kingdom Come" -- Verlaine says in the liner notes that he had "never played with a drummer so powerful and loud." I've always loved that way the cymbal figure at the beginning folds into the song).

Not every difference is worthwhile; "Red Leaves," for instance, sounds washed out. But considering how important Verlaine's sound -- not just his playing -- has been for thousands of musicians and fans, it's a wonderful treat to hear the alternative.

**LATER NOTE: THIS MIX IS NO LONGER ON THIS CD -- STILL A GREAT DISC, THOUGH**

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Second only to 'Marquee Moon', April 11, 2003

By 

Philip P. Obbard "pobbard" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tom Verlaine (Audio CD)

Tom Verlaine's debut is still his finest solo effort. While sonically and musically it could easily be the follow-up to ADVENTURE (Fred Smith is even on board again), filled with anthemic choruses and tight, fluid solos, the slightly more personal (but still enjoyably obtuse) lyrical content is probably unique in Verlaine's canon. In particular, "Souvenir From a Dream", "Kingdom Come", and "Last Night" might be the three best songs, in a pure songwriting sense, in Verlaine's songbook.

Note, however, that the initial Collector's Choice 2002 reissue used the *wrong master* and consequently features an early, rejected, alternate mix of the entire LP. Collector's Choice subsequently replaced this master with the correct, "final" master, and this is still the best one to hear.

To correct another poster: "Kingdom Come" is *not* the same song Television used to play. It has no relation to that epic Television song of the same name. (But it *is* the same song David Bowie covered on SCARY MONSTERS in 1980). However, a number of other songs on this LP are Television leftovers: "Breakin' My Heart" dates from 1975, "Grip Of Love" from 1976, and the lyrics of "Red Leaves" are derived from both "Adventure" and the original "Kingdom Come".

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Different version, but still great, March 4, 2003

By 

Craig Dominey (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tom Verlaine (Audio CD)

If you're reading this review, you're probably a fan of Tom Verlaine and Television and need no convincing about the quality of these songs. It's still great stuff, even to this day (not as dated as some might say).

However, a tiny word of warning - for some reason, this version released by Collector's Choice is not quite the same as the original LP, or at least not to these ears. My previous experience with this hard-to-find LP was via MP3s that I got from, er, another source. They were ripped from the original vinyl, with all the pops and hisses intact.

There's nothing drastically wrong with this version, but if you're expecting an exact duplicate of your old LP, you may be surprised with alternate versions of "Breakin' In My Heart" and other tracks. But depending on how you look at it, this could be a collector's item in the future. So don't throw away your vinyl!

This CD also has a few liner notes written by Tom about the making of the album that are pretty informative.

All in all, great songs, and the remastering job is pretty good for an album recorded on a budget in the late 1970s. Here's hoping Tom's other albums are next on the Collector's Choice release schedule.