Machiavelli and the Four Seasons | ||||
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Studio album by TISM | ||||
Released | 1 May 1995 | |||
Recorded | Metropolis Studios September 1993 Platinum Studios September, December 1994 |
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Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 48:12 | |||
Label | Shock Records/genre b.goode FMR (3 December 2001 re-issue) |
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Producer | TISM | |||
TISM chronology | ||||
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Machiavelli and the Four Seasons is a 1995 album by the Australian rock group TISM (This Is Serious Mum). It is TISM's most famous release and the one with which they received the most critical success and fame. The album was certified Gold by the ARIA Awards and won the ARIA Award for Best Independent Release.[1] The award was accepted in person by Les Murray, the subject of the song "What Nationality is Les Murray?"', who read an insulting acceptance speech in his native Hungarian.[2] Three of its songs reached Triple J's Hottest 100, two of them in the top 10. This was also TISM's highest charting album, reaching number 8 in the Aria Charts.
The album featured TISM's switch from Alternative rock to synth-driven techno and dance music, which still retained the loud guitars and vocal melodies of their earlier music. The two singles Greg! The Stop Sign!! and (He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River" are two of TISM's most well known tracks.
The cover of the album is not TISM unmasked: it is a cover of The Hollywood Argyles,[3] while the title is a composite phrase of doo wop group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and thinker Niccolò Machiavelli.
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The unusual title stems from a conceit found throughout the cover, although not in the tracks themselves, that this is actually an album by a group called "Machiavelli and the Four Seasons". The liner notes include an essay on the band's music, written with gushing praise. Track titles are also given, entirely revolving around the words "I", "Love", "You" and "Baby". A hidden track at the end of the actual album, entitled "Phillip Glass's Arse", is a melodic, a cappella harmonised song that gives a representation of what Machiavelli and the Four Seasons might actually sound like.
The actual tracks contain many fan favourites from TISM's catalogue and continue in the typical lyrical vein of parodying and insulting most elements of popular culture. Most well known are the singles "Greg! The Stop Sign!!" (featuring a famous Beach Boys style falsetto chorus) and the live favourite "(He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River," which deconstructs celebrity hero worship, encapsulated in the verse:
References are also made to significant works of literature and politics, including Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov" ("All Homeboys Are Dickheads"), Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias" ("Aussiemandias") and Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" ("How Do I Love Thee?"). "Lose Your Delusion II" is a play on the Guns N' Roses album Use Your Illusion II ("Lose Your Delusion I" appeared on Australia The Lucky Cunt), while "Play Mistral for Me" is a reference to 1971 film Play Misty for Me, Clint Eastwood's directorial debut. The album also contains the slightly controversial track "!Uoy Sevol Natas", an inversion of "Satan Loves You!". A parody of the belief that many classic rock songs contain backwards-masked Satanic messages.
The official track list for the TISM release of Machiavelli and the Four Seasons.
No. | Title | Listed title | Length |
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1. | "(He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River" | I Love You Baby | 2:24 |
2. | "All Homeboys Are Dickheads" | You And Me, Baby Love | 3:08 |
3. | "Garbage" | Baby, I Love You | 3:31 |
4. | "Lose Your Delusion II" | Love, Baby-You | 3:35 |
5. | "!UOY Sevol Natas" | Its You I Love, Baby | 3:36 |
6. | "What Nationality Is Les Murray?" | In Love With You, Baby | 4:36 |
7. | "Greg! The Stop Sign!!" | Baby, Baby, Baby | 3:28 |
8. | "Play Mistral For Me" | Love, Love, Love | 3:44 |
9. | "How Do I Love Thee?" | Baby Love | 5:17 |
10. | "Jung Talent Time" | I.L.Y.B | 4:40 |
11. | "Aussiemandias" | 4:16 | |
12. | "Give Up For Australia" | 2:31 | |
13. | ""Phillip Glass's Arse" | [hidden track] | 2:21 |
To celebrate Machiavelli going "gold", it was re-released with a bonus disc.[4] It featured previously unreleased tracks as well as the b-sides from all the singles released off Machiavelli and the Four Seasons.
No. | Title | Original release | Length |
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1. | "Jung Talent Time #1" | Jung Talent Time | |
2. | "Abscess Makes The Heart Grow Fonder" | (He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River | |
3. | "Dicktatorship" | (He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River | |
4. | "Strictly Loungeroom" | Greg! The Stop Sign!! | |
5. | "There’s More Men In Children Than Wisdom Knows" | Greg! The Stop Sign!! | |
6. | "Garbage" | Garbage | |
7. | "Junk" | Garbage | |
8. | "Strictly Refuse" | Garbage | |
9. | "Rubbish" | Garbage | |
10. | "Jung Talent Time #4" | Jung Talent Time | |
11. | "Fuck ’Em Fuck ’Em - The Lot Of ’Em" | ||
12. | "If You Ever Hear His Name, Harden Not Your Arteries" | ||
13. | "Does Fame Bring Forth Madness?" | ||
14. | ""Don’t Believe The Hype" Is Hype" | ||
15. | "Bash This Up Your Ginger" |
Machines Against the Rage | ||||
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Live album by TISM | ||||
Released | 16 December 1996 | |||
Recorded | Collingwood Town Hall 20–21 October 1995 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 49:39 | |||
Label | genre b.goode / Shock Records | |||
Producer | TISM | |||
TISM chronology | ||||
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Machines Against the Rage is a live CD which was available with the limited edition 1996 re-issues of Machiavelli and the Four Seasons. The title is a re-wording of the protest rock group Rage Against the Machine who were nearing the height of their popularity at the time of this release. It is claimed on the very CD itself that it is a "shameless hollow publicity stunt".
Machines Against the Rage was initially released in promo form as cardboard sleeve with the unofficially released single for All Homeboys Are Dickheads. The recording was made on 21 October 1996 at the Collingwood Town Hall, Melbourne, though the front cover claims it was recorded on the same date in 1995.
As Machines Against the Rage was released with Machiavelli and the Four Seasons, two track lists occur in the same vein as the original release.
No. | Title | Listed title | Length |
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1. | "All Homeboys Are Dickheads" | The Shit Thing | 3:31 |
2. | "Death Death Death" | The Shit Thing | 3:16 |
3. | "I'm Interested In Apathy" | The Shit Thing | 3:01 |
4. | "Get Thee To A Nunnery" | The Shit Thing | 2:43 |
5. | "Lilee Caught Dilley Bowled Milli Vanilli" | The Shit Thing | 2:56 |
6. | "Martin Scorsese Is Really Quite a Jovial Fellow" | The Shit Thing | 3:03 |
7. | "The History of Western Civilisation" | The Shit Thing | 3:00 |
8. | "Saturday Night Palsy" | The Shit Thing | 3:20 |
9. | "Aussiemandias" | The Shit Thing, The | 4:27 |
10. | "Root" | (The) Shit Thing | 2:43 |
11. | "I'll 'Ave Ya" | 2:19 | |
12. | "Defecate On My Face" | 4:52 | |
13. | "Give Up For Australia" | 2:35 | |
14. | "I Drive A Truck" | 2:16 | |
15. | "Mistah Eliot - He Wanker" | 5:37 |
Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [5] |
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