Television | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Television were one of the most creative bands to emerge from New Yorks punk scene of the mid-70s, creating an influential new guitar vocabulary. While guitarists Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd liked to jam, they didnt follow the accepted rock structures for improvisation -- they removed the blues while retaining the raw energy of garage rock, adding complex, lyrical solo lines that recalled both jazz and rock. With its angular rhythms and fluid leads, Televisions music always went in unconventional directions, laying the groundwork for many of the guitar-based post-punk pop groups of the late 70s and 80s. In the early 70s, Television began as the Neon Boys, a group featuring guitarist/vocalist Tom Verlaine, drummer Billy Ficca, and bassist Richard Hell. At the end of 1973, the group reunited under the name Television, adding rhythm guitarist Richard Lloyd. The following year, the band made its live debut at New Yorks Townhouse theater and began to build up an underground following. Soon, their fan base was large enough that Verlaine was able to persuade CBGBs to begin featuring live bands on a regular basis; the club would become an important venue for punk and new wave bands. That year, Verlaine played guitar on Patti Smiths first single, "Hey Joe"/"Piss Factory," as well as wrote a book of poetry with the singer. Television recorded a demo tape for Island Records with Brian Eno in 1975, yet the label decided not to sign the band. Hell left the band after the recording of the demo tape, forming the Heartbreakers with former New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders; the following year, he began a solo career supported by the Voidoids, releasing a debut album, Blank Generation, in 1977. Hell was replaced by ex-Blondie bassist Fred Smith and Television recorded "Little Johnny Jewel," releasing it on their own Ork record label. "Little Johnny Jewel" became an underground hit, attracting the attention of major record labels. In 1976, the band released a British EP on Stiff Records, which expanded their reputation. They signed with Elektra Records and began recording their debut album. Marquee Moon, the groups first album, was released in early 1977 to great critical acclaim, yet it failed to attract a wide audience in America; in the U.K., it reached number 28 on the charts, launching the Top 40 single "Prove It." Television supported Blondie on the groups 1977 tour, but the shows didnt increase the groups following significantly. Television released their second album, Adventure, in the spring of 1978. While its American sales were better than those of Marquee Moon, the record didnt make the charts; in Britain, it became a Top Ten hit. Months later, the group suddenly broke up, largely due to tensions between the two guitarists. Smith rejoined Blondie, while Verlaine and Lloyd both pursued solo careers; Lloyd also played on John Does first solo album, as well as joined Matthew Sweets supporting band with the 1991 album Girlfriend. Nearly 14 years after their breakup, Television re-formed in late 1991, recording a new album for Capitol Records. The reunited band began its comeback with a performance at Englands Glastonbury summer festival in 1992, releasing Television a couple months later. The album received good reviews, as did the tour that followed, yet the reunion was short-lived -- the group disbanded again in early 1993. In 2001, Television again reunited for a handful of shows in the U.K., as well as an appearance at the Noise Pop Festival in Chicago. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 5 Title: Marquee Moon Released: 1977-02-08 Tracks: 8 Duration: 45:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 See No Evil (03:57) 2 Venus (03:53) 3 Friction (04:43) 4 Marquee Moon (09:58) 5 Elevation (05:09) 6 Guiding Light (05:35) 7 Prove It (05:03) 8 Torn Curtain (07:02) |
| Marquee Moon : Allmusic album Review : Marquee Moon is a revolutionary album, but its a subtle, understated revolution. Without question, it is a guitar rock album -- its astonishing to hear the interplay between Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd -- but it is a guitar rock album unlike any other. Where their predecessors in the New York punk scene, most notably the Velvet Underground, had fused blues structures with avant-garde flourishes, Television completely strip away any sense of swing or groove, even when they are playing standard three-chord changes. Marquee Moon is comprised entirely of tense garage rockers that spiral into heady intellectual territory, which is achieved through the groups long, interweaving instrumental sections, not through Verlaines words. That alone made Marquee Moon a trailblazing album -- its impossible to imagine post-punk soundscapes without it. Of course, it wouldnt have had such an impact if Verlaine hadnt written an excellent set of songs that conveyed a fractured urban mythology unlike any of his contemporaries. From the nervy opener, "See No Evil," to the majestic title track, there is simply not a bad song on the entire record. And what has kept Marquee Moon fresh over the years is how Television flesh out Verlaines poetry into sweeping sonic epics. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 5 Title: Adventure Released: 1978-04 Tracks: 8 Duration: 37:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Glory (03:11) 2 Days (03:14) 3 Foxhole (04:48) 4 Careful (03:18) 5 Carried Away (05:10) 6 The Fire (05:56) 7 Ain’t That Nothin’ (04:54) 8 The Dream’s Dream (06:31) |
| Adventure : Allmusic album Review : Televisions groundbreaking first album, Marquee Moon, was as close to a perfect debut as any band made in the 1970s, and in many respects it would have been all but impossible for the band to top it. One senses that Television knew this, because Adventure seems designed to avoid the comparisons by focusing on a different side of the bands personality. Where Marquee Moon was direct and straightforward in its approach, with the subtleties clearly in the performance and not in the production, Adventure is a decidedly softer and less aggressive disc, and while John Jansens production isnt intrusive, it does round off the edges of the bands sound in a way Andy Johns work on the first album did not. But the two qualities that really made Marquee Moon so special were Tom Verlaines songs and the way his guitar work meshed with that of Richard Lloyd, whose style was less showy but whose gifts were just as impressive, and if you have to listen a bit harder to Adventure, it doesnt take long to realize that both of those virtues are more than apparent here, and while one might wish the sound had a bit more bite on "Foxhole" or "Aint That Nothin," the quieter, more layered sound is just what the doctor ordered for "Glory" and "The Dreams Dream." Sure, Marquee Moon is a better album, but Adventure has one of the greatest guitar bands of all time playing superbly on a set of truly fine songs, and albums like this come along far too infrequently for anyone to ignore music this pleasurable simply on the grounds of relative evaluation; its not quite a masterpiece, but its a brilliant record by any yardstick. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 5 Title: The Blow Up Released: 1982 Tracks: 13 Duration: 1:24:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Blow‐Up (04:00) 2 See No Evil (03:22) 3 Prove It (05:00) 4 Elevation (04:50) 5 I Don’t Care (03:04) 6 Venus de Milo (03:31) 7 Foxhole (05:04) 8 Ain’t That Nothin’ (06:13) 9 Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (07:50) 1 Little Johnny Jewel (14:56) 2 Friction (05:01) 3 Marquee Moon (14:45) 4 Satisfaction (07:18) |
| The Blow Up : Allmusic album Review : Double live albums frequently come off as redundant and indulgent, but in the case of Television, The Blow-Up comes awfully close to being an essential document, simply because the bands studio albums didnt always capture the rawness and spontaneity that fueled their on-stage improvisations. Both of those qualities are present on The Blow-Up in abundance; the sound quality is not exactly pristine, but the performances, recorded in 1978 on what proved to be the bands final tour, are exciting and frequently breathtaking, capturing a side of the band that will enlighten anyone wondering how Televisions intricate, layered sound was ever tagged "punk." Six songs from Marquee Moon and two from Adventure appear, plus covers of "Satisfaction," "Knockin on Heavens Door," and the 13th Floor Elevators "Fire Engine" (here renamed as the albums title track). Its interesting to hear the shorter songs outside of a studio setting, but the albums real treasures are the second halfs nearly 15-minute versions of "Little Johnny Jewel" and "Marquee Moon," which are loaded with the improvisational fireworks that helped build Televisions reputation. Anyone seeking a more complete, rounded picture of the band after digesting Marquee Moon should eventually find his way here. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 5 Title: Television Released: 1992-09-28 Tracks: 10 Duration: 42:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 1880 or So (03:41) 2 Shane, She Wrote This (04:21) 3 In World (04:12) 4 Call Mr. Lee (04:16) 5 Rhyme (04:47) 6 No Glamour for Willi (05:00) 7 Beauty Trip (04:22) 8 The Rocket (03:23) 9 This Tune (03:42) 10 Mars (04:56) |
| Television : Allmusic album Review : After the breakthrough success of Nirvanas Nevermind in 1991, it seemed (at least for a while) that many of the tributaries of the American punk movement might finally have a chance to break through to a larger audience, and a number of seminal bands from the salad days of punk and new wave made reunion albums, imagining they might have a better chance to be heard than they did in the 1970s or 80s. Television were an especially strong example of a band whose influence and reputation far outstripped their commercial impact, so its not that surprising that the group decided to reunite in 1992 and see if the mass audience might finally be prepared for them. However, Televisions intricate guitar attack and elliptical melodies would have been a hard sell under ideal circumstances, and it didnt help much that the groups comeback disc, simply called Television, sounded even less approachable than the music of their masterpiece, Marquee Moon. With its skeletal melodies, starkly dynamic arrangements, and cryptically witty lyrics, Television sounds like one of Tom Verlaines post-1982 solo albums more than anything else, but with one important difference -- here, Verlaine is working with a second guitarist who is actually worth his while, and while on this set everyone seems to follow Verlaines lead, with Richard Lloyd on hand to trade licks with Tom, and Fred Smith and Billy Ficca holding down the rhythm section with unobtrusive strength, its easily the strongest record Verlaine made since Dreamtime in 1981. Anyone wanting to know why Television were one of the most important bands of their time needs to start with Marquee Moon, but if you want further proof that Verlaine and Lloyd truly bring out the best in each others guitar work, this album will certainly help. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 5 Title: Live at the Old Waldorf Released: 2003-09-23 Tracks: 9 Duration: 1:02:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 The Dream’s Dream (07:17) 2 Venus (03:46) 3 Foxhole (05:25) 4 Careful (03:19) 5 Ain’t That Nothin’ (06:47) 6 Little Johnny Jewel (11:51) 7 Friction (04:40) 8 Marquee Moon (14:09) 9 (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (05:05) |