The Church - C or D/S&D/CB&TT

I must, however, say, that Marty Willson-Piper is probably one of the most pretentious human beings ever to have lived. But you can't blame that on the Australians, as he's from Liverpool anyway. You get the feeling he'd have been much happier in Echo and the Bunneymen.

Search: Heyday, Starfish, Priest=Aura, and Hologram Of Baal are the four pivotal albums IMHO, though I've never heard Seance which everybody seems to rate highly.

Now, "Dreams Even Here" -> "Inbetween Days" or "Just Like Heaven" - > "All The Way" is much more blatant (although probably also coincidental).

The big drawback for me is that on the earlier albums, (I can't comment post-Heyday, except to say that the later albums are in every bargain bin I've ever rummaged through), they're pretty half-hearted in everything they do - never really rocking, never really letting rip on the psyche influences, just kind of chugging along....hoping. The productions do them no favours - Blurred Crusade, and particularly Seance sound muted and dull. The debut does have energy, and Remote Luxury has the best choons.

Biggest drawback of all is the drummer, Richard Ploog. You just can't pull off what (I think) they're attempting with such a wooden, plodding beat. Ploog has no feel and no drive and plays like he's holding a cricket bat in each hand.

Look, I've no idea what happened after Heyday, but on the evidence of the first 4 or 5 albums these guys are also rans, for f~@cks sake!

"The Blurred Crusade has so much energy".....

.....Then we mean different things by energy, Ned. Not that all music needs energy, but if you're attempting a kinda upbeat guitar pop- rock/psyche thing you'll be needing some. Yes indeed. Not on every track, but you'd better have some gas in the tank when needed. Some examples : "In Shreds" "This Perfect Day", "Reward", "Crocodiles". These have what I mean by energy. And decent drummers.

Live, the Church RAWKED. This was always such a surprise, considering the gentle, textured, multi-layers of their albums. But when playing live, they became monster rock gods with blinding guitar solos. But when they ditched Richard Ploog for Jay Dee Daugherty, they didn't rock so much, so Ploog, in all his stoner glory, clearly was contributing something.

They're one of those weird bands who have had far more importance in my life, and on my friends' lives than they really should have.

Where the f@ck do you see Church videos, exile?

(this leak -- was it via p2p?)

"It has been confirmed that the album will be released in Australia on Cooking Vinyl through Shock Records in mid October. FY release date elsewhere is January 2004 in the USA (Spinart ) and UK/Europe (Cooking Vinyl), both special edition most likely with bonus disc, the delay being due to an error in the mastering/ manufacturing process. Australia won't miss out on the international special edition as there will be a unique re issue to coincide.....more to come.The Australian tour will start early November (stay tuned for venues and dates), and Europe and USA will be early 2004. HANG ON !!!!!Great things come slow !!!!!!"

But Ned, how did you manage to snag a listen? I thought "After Everything" was much better than I thought it would be, so I'm really looking forward to this one. And a tour, too? So cool.

x-post!

Kilbey's somewhere in the middle.

As for S&D I actually (contradicting my above statement a bit) Don't like Starfish nearly as much as Heyday or also Remote Luxury (which I feel are the 2 best). This was one of the first bands I got into when I started listening to music. They have such a nostalgia for me, and thier sound only encourages this.

Best since Priest = Aura. And P=A is my fave album of theirs.

As a Chameleons hyperfanatic, I see the point of comparison, but really I think they're two different bands with a slew of shared core influences in common, nothing more.

I wasn't very impressed to see them live. I mean it was interesting and all but they were doing a partly acoustic set and the recordings are soo much better. Maybe if I see them do a full electric set it'll be better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVUE6KbEBTs

Good interview with Peter here - gets into his final days with the band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juVh2xtX67A

Great find, ET, thank you

best kilbey work in many a year imo https://kilbeykennedy.bandcamp.com/album/jupiter-13

Sounds good!

God, his solo catalog is massive. Could go for a guide or best-of or playlist.

I still rep for Unearthed and The Slow Crack. Narcosis is pretty excellent too, but I lost track sometime in the early 00s.

I gotta break out Unearthed some time soon. Loved it.

Yes I loved that album! Earthed isn't bad but it's no Unearthed! "Judgement Day" is my favorite song featuring a drum machine. It was a mixtape staple back in the day because I didn't know anyone diehard enough to have solo Kilbey albums and it's such a good song :)

Hard to believe it's contemporaneous with Starfish, the yin to that album's yang. "Nothing Inside" could have been a Church single I think, but "Othertime" might be the loveliest song he's written.

I'll take this opportunity to strongly recommend Peter Koppes' latest project, Syncretism. The vocals and lead guitar are by Dave Scotland, who he first worked with in Baby Grande, SK's band prior to the formation of The Church!

Ha, wow, there's some continuity!

More kilbey songs need drum machines, IMO.

you're gonna *love* Remindlessness then

electricsound!!!

That album cover is very stoner rock, reminds me of 'The Black Code' by Wo Fat.

Some good news on the reissue front. Intervention’s 2021 deluxe reissue of Starfish sounds beyond spectacular. If you're on the fence about it, just pull the trigger - it's that much of an improvement over what's been out there.

Really. Very intrigued!

ordered

I purchased the Intervention remaster on the basis of ET's recommendation above, and he's not wrong. Listening to it on my little-used SACD player, there's somehow much more of everything - which shouldn't be possible, but it underlines how superlative the engineering and mixing on Starfish was.

The EMI reissues were a great series, but the remastering on them was a little hot so... I'm in!

Yeah I prefer the original cd of priest=aura to the remaster for sure

The original US Arista CDs in the late 1980s were remastered by Bill Inglot, one of the best folks doing such work at the time -- I specifically remember his prominent credit for doing that, a relative rarity then -- but I forget if he did the original issue of Starfish too but I wouldn't be surprised.

Starfish is guaranteed to sell pretty well, but the real get would be a remastered edition of the Remote Luxury/Persia/Sing Songs CD compilation

Mostly loving the remaster, it's cleared a bunch of the upper-mid congestion which made the tracks sound thick and unfocused - but not too much. The exception is UTMW for which someone has either EQ'd a mid bass hump or added something to goose the kick drum - it sounds like listening to the song while somebody thumps their foot along in time.
It's quite an odd sounding album in its way, I would like to hear these songs produced like Heyday was. Of course Wachtel ditching the band apart from Kilbey for UTMW doesn't help. I think Ploog was sidelined for a lot of it if I recall Kilbey's blog correctly.

Man that was an epic blog post

If you thought Kilbey's was long ... https://martywillson-piper.com/starfish-2/
(only Ploog was ditched for UTMW apparently)

and ther Kilbey one because it's hard to track down these days: https://thetimebeing.com/sel-fish/

just revisited Sometime Anywhere for the first time in a decade and was surprised how good it is compared to my recollection.

with some exceptions

Looks like Steve's going to do a big ol' catalog revisit:

https://stevekilbey.bandcamp.com/album/of-skins-and-heart-acoustic-sessions-vol-1

Steve Kilbey's solo acoustic version / reinterpretation of The Church's 1981 album Of Skins and Heart, 41 years after its initial release.

.....

'The first in a serious of acoustic reworkings of classic Church albums. Of Skins And Heart was The Church’s 1981 debut, and featured the band’s first major hit “The Unguarded Moment”. Steve Kilbey has reimagined the album for the 2020’s as a predominantly acoustic album. Steve’s unadorned guitar and vocals grab the listener from the outset and never let go until the final ringing notes of “Don’t Open The Door To Strangers”. These are brilliant performances of classic songs from a truly amazing songwriter.'

"Back With Two Beasts" from 2009. It's really good! Missed it first time around.

Yep, solid stuff!

I missed Television on their reunion tours, but I did get to see Verlaine once in late 1988: a solo acoustic set opening for The Church & Peter Murphy at the Hollywood Palladium. Verlaine joined for The Church’s encore of Neil Young’s “Cortez The Killer” and then The Church’s own “You Took.” A spectacular 3-guitar blowout. The Church were touring Starfish and just unstoppable live. Kilbey later writes in his book that Ploog was playing so fast because he wanted out of the band and therefore would finish the set as fast as possible.

No recording of the LA show exists but two other nights of the tour with Verlaine are here: (SLC sounds good)
https://shadowcabi.net/concerts/1980s-rev.html

Ha, you have reminded me that I really should get that book.

Have heard an advance of the new album -- it's solid, I think maybe a grower, but I will be very interested to hear it live.

New one is good but...it sounds to me more like a Steve Kilbey collaborating with (X,Y,Z) album than a Church album.

With both Willson-Piper and Koppes gone, we're deep into Ship of Theseus territory. SK is undoubtedly the wellspring of inspiration, but so much of the appeal of the classic Church era derives from their fantastic musicianship and sound.

username checks out

Hey c’mon, he replaced them with the guitarists from two of the most boring bands of the ‘90s — that’s real value!

I missed Television on their reunion tours, but I did get to see Verlaine once in late 1988: a solo acoustic set opening for The Church & Peter Murphy at the Hollywood Palladium. Verlaine joined for The Church’s encore of Neil Young’s “Cortez The Killer” and then The Church’s own “You Took.” A spectacular 3-guitar blowout. The Church were touring Starfish and just unstoppable live. Kilbey later writes in his book that Ploog was playing so fast because he wanted out of the band and therefore would finish the set as fast as possible.

No recording of the LA show exists but two other nights of the tour with Verlaine are here: (SLC sounds good)
https://shadowcabi.net/concerts/1980s-rev.html

I saw the Denver date on August 18 of that year. It was a really good show.

(xpost)

I will say that I think Ian Haug's style meshed really well with Koppes on Further/Deeper.

yeah I saw them on that tour and the band was dece tbf

Hey c’mon, he replaced them with the guitarists from two of the most boring bands of the ‘90s

Bores of the new Church

Man, I had a tape of a show from the Starfish tour — I think it was even a King Biscuit Flower Hour or some such, I taped it from the radio — it was fantastic and I've never found it on the internet.

I was a big fan but didn't really follow them in the later years. But then they came through my hometown a couple years ago (last tour with Koppes I think) playing Starfish and then lots of later stuff and I was totally blown away.

I had a cassette of a Westwood One recording from that era, it was only about 40 mins long, as it was shared with another band (can't recall who), but it was fantastic.

Yes! That's the one I'm thinking of. Aside from its being great, I just remember that it was heavy on the Starfish cuts and ended with Hotel Womb. Would be great if it turned up somewhere.

Whoops looks like my memory was wrong:

https://www.discogs.com/release/8062807-Rhythm-Corps-The-Church-Westwood-One-In-Concert

So delayed reaction here but The Hypnogogue has ended up sinking in with me -- it took a couple more plays but it's its own enjoyably moody listen. Meantime the show this past Tuesday was way better than I would have hoped for. Wrote up a lot of thoughts for the weekly Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/some-weekly-70-80117464

Whoa, Steve Kilbey is 68? Looking at his bio, I guess he was already 27 when they released their first album.

I've made a mix of the songs they're playing on this tour to study up for my first time seeing them live, and it's really striking how consistent they are across the decades. The songs from The Hypnogogue sit quite comfortably next to the songs from Seance, with just a few 80's production signifiers to distinguish them.

Whoa, Steve Kilbey is 68?

It's crazy to realize it but totally true! And you're correct about the consistency but it's not a flaw in the slightest, more just a real continuum, and you can sense the difference between eras easily enough -- the turn towards crypto-prog in the late 90s on was exactly what they needed.

I'm seeing the Denver show tomorrow. My first time. Super stoked!