| Eleventh Dream Day | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois |
| Genres | Alt-Rock |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Labels | Amoeba, Fan Club, Atlantic Records, Thrill Jockey |
| Associated acts | Freakwater, Tortoise |
| Members | |
| Rick Rizzo, Janet Beveridge Bean, Doug McCombs, Mark Greenberg | |
| Past members | |
| Baird Figi, Matthew "Wink" O'Bannon | |
Eleventh Dream Day is a rock band from Chicago, Illinois.
Contents |
The band was founded by guitarists Rick Rizzo and Janet Beveridge Bean, who met at a place fondly known as 1069. This was a house/practice space/hang out in Louisville where at the time Janet was practicing with the band she was in with Tara Key and Tim Harris; the Zoo Directors. They finished a practice and there Rick was in the next room. Janet scrounged up all the change in her pocket, about $1.20, to go to dinner with him and his pals. They all went to Wok Inn and Janet had egg drop soup. That was either very late 1982 or very early 1983.
After moving to Chicago, Bean and Rizzo joined with guitarist Baird Figi and bassist Doug McCombs; Bean soon switched over to drums. Their first self-titled EP in 1987 introduced the hallmarks of EDD's sound: Neil Young-inspired electric guitar workouts mixed with punk energy.
The band's full-length follow-up, Prairie School Freakout (1988), won critical praise and the attention of major labels; the band soon signed with Atlantic Records. Followups Beet (1989) and Lived to Tell (1991) won more strong reviews but didn't sell many copies; Figi left during the Lived to Tell tour and was replaced by Matthew "Wink" O'Bannon.
The band made a stab for commercial success with 1993's El Moodio, but the effort was unsuccessful and Eleventh Dream Day was dropped from Atlantic's roster. O'Bannon left after recording 1994's "Ursa Major" and the band ceased to be a full-time entity; Rizzo went back to college to earn a degree in education, while Bean and McCombs concentrated on their other musical projects, Freakwater and Tortoise respectively.
Eleventh Dream Day has since recorded new albums every few years, starting with 1997's Eighth. Recent albums have balanced the band's Young-influenced approach with an interest in ambient sound, likely influenced by McCombs's work with Tortoise. EDD released Stalled Parade in 2000, playing a handful of shows after the album's release with Mark Greenberg of (the Coctails) assisting on keyboards and other instruments. Zeroes and Ones was released on April 25, 2006, on Thrill Jockey Records. Riot Now! was released on March 15, 2011, on Thrill Jockey Records.
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Modern Rock | |||
| 1990 | "Testify" | 26 | Beet |
| 1991 | "Rose of Jericho" | 27 | Lived to Tell |