A timeless masterpiece Often cited as one of the NYC bands that helped inspire the "punk rock" movement in the 70's, Television is typically lumped-in with the punk bands that followed, but this is a tragic mis-characterization. Television certainly shared some of punk's elements: spare instrumentation, raw youthful energy, and a "street rock" rejection of the overindulgences of 70s era musical and visual style. But unlike the bands that followed, Television did this with a keen musicianship, that was equal to the intensely inventive spirit of their songwriting. This is why their debut album still remains fresh today and deserves recognition as a unique document that has all the qualities of the highest forms of musical art. I fully expect that hundreds of years from now those interested in and knowledgeable about electric guitar music will still be listening to the work of Television while their contemporaries are long forgotten.
Perhaps it takes a musician to truly appreciate the sheer brilliance of Marquee Moon. The inventive guitar interplay of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd over theequally inventive rhythmic foundation of drummer Billy Ficca and bassist Fred Smith puts every other rock foursome of the time to shame... both in sheer originality and musical sophistication. Most of the bands that followed eschewed serious musicianship and offered little more than youthful rebellion driven ever harder to a new level of speed, attitude, and volume. Television cracked open a door to a different kind of music, one that combined the raw attitude of rebellious youth, with a musical sophistication rivaling that of creative jazz, a fresh musical alchemy all their own that remainsinfluential long after the raw appeal of punk has run its course.
For those looking for punk head-banging over densely hammering chords, this recording is not for you. For serious musicians and others interested in the deeper creative possibilities of guitar, bass, and drum rock music, Marquee Moon remains an essential and timeless artifact that defies categorization, and still inspires awe in Those Who Understand.
Album DescriptionRemastered digipak reissue for the band's 2nd album originally released in 1978, includes 3 bonus tracks 'Adventure' (previously unissued), 'Ain't That Nothin' (single version) & 'Glory' (early version). Elektra. 2003.
Television: Adventure As a casual fan, this is my favorite Television record. Marquee Moon is good, but this is just better in my opinion.
"Foxhole" is a leftover from the MM sessions, and it definitely sounds like it. It's totally out of place, and consequently is my least favorite song on the album. (If it had been on MM, it would have fit right in, and I probably would have loved it). Other than that, this album has a terrific flow to it, and is great for a laidback listening experience. Television is known as a guitar band, but that amazing and heartwrending piano from the MM song "Guiding Light" is back, in spades, on Adventure. With songs like "Days," "Careful" and "Carried Away," Adventure could have been titled: NYC Punks Discover Country & Western. Then subtitled: And Make Some Damn Good Music As A Result. The only skip-worthy song on the whole album is the weak 6-minute instrumental, "The Dream's Dream," which just meanders and goes nowhere. The bottom line though, for me, is that Adventure surpasses any of either Verlaine's or Lloyd's solo work--making it as the logical next step if you have heard MM and you want something more.
And yes, the awesome red cover helps a little bit too.
Television - self-titled (EMI) 3 1/2 stars This is their fourth album,including their live2-disc release.A decent 1992 come back effort,I must say.Maybe best described as good post-rock.The playing here is well done.Couple of tracks I remember really digging were "1888 Or So","No Glamour For Willi","Beauty Trip" and "Mars".Line-up:Tom Verlaine-guitar&vocals,Richard Lloyd-guitar,Fred Smith-bass and Billy Ficca-drums.Should appeal to fans of Wire,Blondie,Sonic Youth,R.E.M. and Gang of Four.A decent pick here.
tropicalports:A classic bit of punk rock from 1977, that classic year of punk. Whereas most of this New York City group's peers turned up the distortion, revved up the tempo, and stripped their songs down to tight three-chord anthems, Television did something startlingly different. Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd allowed themselves the space to develop clean, powerful, unexpected guitar leads. To top it off, Verlaine's songs were thought-provoking, memorable, danceable, and unlike anything else going. "Prove It" was the hit in England, but independent radio stations wore the grooves down on the title cut, "See No Evil," and the stunningly brilliant "Friction." --Percy Keegan
Not Really Like Anything Else The thing about Television is that their two studio albums from the 1970's, especially Marquee Moon, sound like nothing else. Marquee Moon never gets old. It's kind of like a musical fantasyland. Every track is unbelievable. The musicianship is so unique that one can always tell what band it is. No one has made a guitar album like this. Sure, any band can have one guitarist bang out chords while another solos over the top but the two guitarists here arrange the songs so well that one need not bother picking them apart. It all flows together perfectly. Buy this.Listen to it. Listen to it again. Try to compare it to anything else. You can't.
tropicalports:The guitar-led, thin-sounding rock of NYC's seminal art-punk band Television had many acolytes--from the lovelorn poetry of Australia's Go-Betweens to the more commercial sound of New Wave poppers the Knack. This live double CD, originally released on cassette in 1982, showcases the band at their most experimental and wired. Obvious standouts include the intricate, almost Coltrane-esque guitar duel between bandleaders Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd on an incredible 15-minute version of "Little Johnny Jewel," plus an equally lengthy and tormented reading of "Marquee Moon." Sound quality is extremely variable, but the spirit of the originators of the New York punk loft scene shines through, even on a relatively ordinary rendition of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction." Raw, dreamy, and ripe for rediscovery. --Everett True
An excellent companion to Marquee Moon The first Television album is all tension and restraint -- beautiful guitars slashing at each other over Verlaine's wavery voice and a thumping rhythm section. "Marquee Moon" is the sound of a world class garage band, and one of the great guitar bands of all rock music playing majestic music,nearly losing control at each curve, but catching themselves before they fell apart.
This album strays at every opportunity. It's loud and indulgent. The playing is sometimes ridiculously sloppy, but when the band gets it right, as with the 15 minutes of "Little Johnny Jewel," it's as breathtaking as anything on "Marquee Moon."
I still prefer the studio versions of every song on this album to the live ones, but this is the perfect companion to "Marquee Moon." Even though the album was recorded after "Marquee Moon" was released, it works well as a backdrop for that album. Compared to the insane experimentation here, the solo on the studio version of "Marquee Moon" sounds tame and structured. The full-blown feakout of "Friction" is compressed into a tight single in the studio.
Which isn't to say the album doesn't stand on its own. As a double live album with low quality sound, it doesn't have much going for it in principle, but the guitars are fantastic. Very raw, very loud, and a lot of fun. Any fan of rock music owes it to themselves to buy "Marquee Moon" first (THAT'S the essential album), but this works well for those of us who can't get enough of a good thing.
English Not What I Had Hoped For The best thing about this DVD set is the packaging. It is very attractive. It is also misleading. Echo Bridge Entertainment is just a repackaging of Platinum Disc Corporation (PDC) product. The problem with PDC is that this company inserts the company name and logo onto the bottom right hand corner of the screen periodically throughout the program. I have never been able to overlook any program that does this to deter pirating. It takes away from the nostalgic feel of watching a vintage television program or movie. Vintage Entertainment practices this as well, so I have resisited buying any more product from them. If this sort of thing does not really bother you, then you may very well enjoy the diverse programming on this set of DVDs. It includes Burnsand Allen, A Date With the Angels, Dragnet, Four Star Playhouse, Annie Oakley and The Racket Squad, among others. Each program is separated by the PDC intro as well, so you are constantly being reminded of what company has released this. Otherwise, it would be a nice collection of early holiday programming.
tropicalports:Recorded over four-nights in front of a sold-out hometown crowd at Chicago's historic Vic Theatre in 2005, Kicking Television: Live In Chicago is the first official live release from Wilco. It's remarkable to think that a band so well known for for its richly varied, inspiring live sets waited so long to get one these things out. At the same time, it's a little foreign hearing songs that once felt like personal treasures, plus a set-closing cover of Charles Wright's "Comment," handed over to the masses - the quietly disturbing "Misunderstood" is transformed into an audience sing-along, "Handshake Drugs" becomes a communal jig, and "Heavy Metal Drummer" a certifiable party anthem. Luckily, the whoops and clinking cocktail glasses can't take away from Jeff Tweedy's compelling laments or the band's full-throttle charge, particularly ona knuckle-gripping reworkings of "A Shot In The Arm" and "Ashes of American Flags." --Aidin Vaziri
There is always pressure on great "live" bands to release that one live album. Loyal fans of course will scream 'till they are blue in the face that they will never be able to capture that feel from actually being there and seeing it live. I think that is generally because the people that have actually seen the band live like to separate themselves from the masses, you know, feel special and all. Well, after listening to the first disc of this album you are ready to tell those prima donnas, hey, they are doing it! The first disc is magic. There are three songs on it that I might not have chosen, but overall, tremendous, shines bright. However, the second disc sees the band go into a lot slower numbers that could cause one to scratch their head. It's not that they are bad songs, just that they are not anywhere close to being rockers, which is kind of what I am looking for at a concert. The Sparkler starts to burn out a bit. Although, "Poor Places" and "Airline to Heaven" really do shine bright. Of course, how a song like "I'm Always in Love" does not make it on this release is a mystery to me, arguably Wilco's biggest crowd pleaser. Overall, the release is solid, showing excellent musicianship, but disc1 proves quite superior to disc 2. So, if you were to rip a disc for your car stereo, you might want to lean on that more.
TV themes galore If you're looking for some of the best TV themes created-of some of the best shows ever-volume two is probably the NUMBER ONE volume to get. Veering away from the shows of the 70s is not a bad move(have you heard the jazz fusion tracks of "Emergency!", "Medical Center", & "Police Woman"? Yeesh!) This one is still a mixed bag(I mean, let's face it, there are only so many listenable themes), but this one is unique in that it has a number of those themes that were sung(mainly westerns, like Bat Masterson, Maverick, and Rawhide, with better lyrics and melodies than, say, The Flintstones or Gilligan's Island's ballads), some of the best jazz-oriented lounge pieces, which are easily amongst the best and most listenable TV themes of all time(The Avengers, The Saint, Route 66, Green Hornet, Peter Gunn, The Pink Panther, Bewitched, The Honeymooners, Jonny Quest), and a number of the most complimentary TV themes, pointed toward the show's own premise, sometimes with sound effects to boot(Daktari, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea-you really feel as if you're coasting the lower fathoms, Rat Patrol, Twelve O'Clock High-emitting the wild blue yonder, Hogan's Heroes-scored to a german march). As far as the reviews stating that a good number of these are remakes, if you pay attention to the awkwardness of sound quality from piece to piece, it's quite evident that most of these have that non-restored sound(and why would recreations not be better dubbed?), cancelling out those reviews. Also, for those who believe that "Bewitched" and others have been modified somewhat, this is not the reason behind the additional notes. Some of these are actually the original scores, before they were cut to their shorter versions. With this in mind, it's quite evident that "The Avengers" and "Bewitched" themes are best in their original format, as a full scoring, and not the trunkated versions used for the show. However, I can see where I would have maybe thought the same thing if I hadn't known this information.
From TV LAnd to AOL getting soon re runs of series...This is a MUST! Well, it seems that from TV LAnd to Nick at Night even AOL which is on the way to create a service that will allows his users to view series from th 60's to now, people WANT good series with fun again.
No gratuitous violence like too many shows now (which, that is good, are going back in numbers since last year 2004).
Those misics like the shows are classics because they were good fun AND with adventures not cheap series made with unecessary violence or sex.
So...it seems that it is coming back! So, why not get the album too?
