Marquee Moon

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Marquee Moon
Marquee Moon cover
Studio album by Television
Released February, 1977
Recorded A & R Studios, NYC, 1975
Genre Punk
Length 45:49
Label Elektra
Producer Andy Johns
Tom Verlaine
Professional reviews
Television chronology
Marquee Moon
(1977)		 Adventure
(1978)

Marquee Moon is Television's 1977 debut album (see 1977 in music). It was re-released September 23, 2003.

Contents

[edit] Album information

Television was one of the mainstay acts that emerged from the CBGB scene in New York City. This album features the elliptical lyrics of Tom Verlaine set against the sparse yet complex guitar work of Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, and the rhythm section of Fred Smith (bass) and Billy Ficca (drums). The introspective mood of the album, and the careful, instrumental virtuosity of Verlaine and his band were arguably one of the first manifestations of the post punk movement. Despite critical acclaim, the album never achieved more than a cult following in the United States at the time of its release, but rose to #28 in Britain, partly due to a lengthy rave review by Nick Kent in the NME.

Its high reputation in Britain has persisted: in 2003 NME declared Marquee Moon to be the fourth best album of all time. In the same year, the TV network VH1 placed it 83rd. It was also ranked at #128 in the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time while Pitchfork Media named the album the 3rd best of the 1970s. In March 2005, Q magazine placed the song "Marquee Moon" at number 51 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. The album usually sits inside the top 20 albums of the Rate Your Music: All-Time Top 5000 Albums and is #25 at acclaimed music [1].

The original vinyl recording was composed of eight tracks. The remastered 2003 compact disc rerelease of Marquee Moon retains the same track order, but the title track continues to 10:40, rather than fading out as on the original LP.

One of the songs on the album, "Venus", is not a cover of the Shocking Blue single. It is an original tune about taking refuge in the arms of the Venus de Milo, a legendary Greek statue that has lost its arms. The song "Guiding Light" takes its name from a soap opera.[citation needed]

The album was dedicated to William Terry Ork, on whose label, Ork Records, the band's first 7" 45 ("Little Johnny Jewel (Parts 1 & 2)") was released. A cover version of the title track was recorded in 1990 by the Kronos Quartet for the compilation album Rubáiyát. There is a passing reference to Marquee Moon in the Spanish group Amaral's song Moriría por vos. In the song's lyrics, while listing various reasons that the vocalist is falling for someone, she mentions that it might have something to do with the fact that the album is playing.

[edit] Reception

The album is one of the most acclaimed rock records of all time.

Professional reviews:

  • Rolling Stone (10/16/03, p.90) - 5 stars out of 5 - "One of the all-time classic guitar albums....MOON still shimmers with urban grime and psychedelic imagination."
  • Spin (12/03, p.125) - "It's the first punk jam album and a thing of swooning, brawny loveliness."
  • Entertainment Weekly (9/26/03, pp.94-5) - "One of the era's masterworks, a multilayered thrill ride of interlocking stun-gun guitars and leader Tom Verlaine's nervous vocals." - Rating: A
  • Q (5/02 SE, p.143) - 5 stars out of 5 - Included in Q's "100 Best Punk Albums" - Q (1/03, p.132) - "A brutally stark, yet intricate weave of guitars and affectingly passionate vocals."
  • Uncut (11/01, p.134) - "Television may have vowed to 'pull down the future', but no one knew they'd reinvent it. Proof that lightning can, indeed, strike itself."- Ranked #2 in Uncut's list of the 'Greatest Debuts' (Lost to Velvet Underground & Nico)
  • Mojo (3/03, p.76) - Ranked #32 in Mojo's "Top 50 Punk Albums" - "A graceful new wave bite that betrayed delicate hints of neo-psychedelic sophistication."
  • NME (9/18/93, p.19) - Ranked #10 among The Greatest Albums Of The '70s - NME (2003) - Ranked #4 in NME's list of the 'Greatest Albums Of All Time'

[edit] LP track listing

All songs written by Tom Verlaine unless otherwise indicated.

[edit] Side one

  1. "See No Evil" – 3:53
  2. "Venus" – 3:51
  3. "Friction" – 4:44
  4. "Marquee Moon" – 10:40

[edit] Side two

  1. "Elevation" – 5:07
  2. "Guiding Light" – 5:35 (Lloyd, Verlaine)
  3. "Prove It" – 5:02
  4. "Torn Curtain" – 6:56

[edit] CD reissue bonus tracks

  1. "Little Johnny Jewel (Parts 1 & 2)" – 7:09
  2. "See No Evil (Alternate Version)" – 4:40
  3. "Friction (Alternate Version)" – 4:52
  4. "Marquee Moon (Alternate Version)" – 10:54
  5. Untitled [instrumental] – 3:22

The untitled instrumental is an unfinished attempt to record "O Mi Amore", a song Television performed frequently in concert during 1976 and 1977. This recording of the song comes from the sessions for Television's second album "Adventure" in 1978.

The song Marquee Moon was #372 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs All Time.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Guitar Solos

The guitar solos in "See No Evil," "Elevation" and "Guiding Light" are played by Richard Lloyd, whilst the solos in "Venus," "Friction" and "Prove It" are by Tom Verlaine. The solos in the album's title track are shared between the two, with Lloyd soloing after the second chorus and Verlaine soloing after the third.

[edit] Production