Red House Painters (Rollercoaster)

Infobox Album | Name = Red House Painters
Type = Album
Artist = Red House Painters


Released = flagicon|UK May 24, 1993
flagicon|US May 25, 1993
Recorded = Summer 1992 - Spring 1993
Genre = Folk rock, sadcore
Length = 76:13
Label = 4AD
Producer = Mark Kozelek
Reviews = * Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wkjx7ia8g75r link]
Last album = "Down Colorful Hill"
(1992)
This album = "Red House Painters"
(1993)
Next album = "Red House Painters"
(1993)

"Red House Painters" (also known as "Rollercoaster" to distinguish it from the second eponymous album, also known as "Bridge") is the second album by the group Red House Painters, released in spring 1993 by 4AD. 8 remaining songs from the same recording sessions made up the band's second self-titled album, "Bridge". The lengthy album gives voice to Mark Kozelek's haunted lyrics of pain, desolation and loss, while musically running the gamut from the folk-pop of "Grace Cathedral Park" and "Mistress" to the stark, affecting "New Jersey" and onto the lengthy, droning soundscapes of "Funhouse" and "Mother." The chorus of "Dragonflies" is based on a famous haiku by Chiyo-ni. The LP is considered by many fans as the band's magnum opus, a point which Mark Kozelek acknowledges as he discusses the "Rollercoaster" album in the forward of the 2002 edition (and revised 2008 edition) of his lyrics book "Nights of Passed Over":

The album's artwork features a sepia-toned picture of the now-demolished rollercoaster Thunderbolt on Coney Island. An original idea for the album's front cover artwork was a close-up, sepia-toned photo of a fish head. [ [http://www.4ad.com/redhousepainters/ephemera/red-house-painte-0/?display=2 Red House Painters' first album cover artwork idea, 4AD's website] ]

Track listing

CD release:

# "Grace Cathedral Park" – 3:52
# "Down Through" – 2:38
# "Katy Song" – 8:25
# "Mistress" – 4:05
# "Things Mean a Lot" – 3:24
# "Funhouse" – 9:18
# "Take Me Out" – 4:48
# "Rollercoaster" – 4:17
# "New Jersey" – 3:58
# "Dragonflies" – 3:58
# "Mistress" (Piano Version) – 4:33
# "Mother" – 13:06
# "Strawberry Hill" – 7:35
# "Brown Eyes" – 1:48

Double 12" vinyl release:

Side A:
# "Grace Cathedral Park" – 3:52
# "Down Through" – 2:38
# "Katy Song" – 8:25
# "Mistress" – 4:05

Side B:
# "Things Mean a Lot" – 3:24
# "Funhouse" – 9:18
# "Take Me Out" – 4:48

Side C:
# "Rollercoaster" – 4:17
# "New Jersey" – 3:58
# "Dragonflies" – 3:58
# "Mistress" (Piano Version) – 4:33

Side D:
# "Mother" – 13:06
# "Strawberry Hill" – 7:35
# "Brown Eyes" – 1:48

Remastered

Red House Painters' 4AD catalog was remastered and reissued on CD in the late 1990s:
* July 6, 1998
* November 2, 1999

Notes

* Images by W.K.V.L.
* 4AD release: DAD 3008 (vinyl), DAD 3008 CD (UK CD), GAD 3008 CD (US CD)
* Warner Bros. release: 9 45256-2 (US CD)

"Mistress" single

Although no commercial singles were ever released from the album, a promotional-only CD was issued for "Mistress" in the US in May 1993. The single features a different mix of "Mistress" as well as the piano version, along with the album version of "Grace Cathedral Park." While the sleeve lists "Strawberry Hill" as the album version, it is in fact an edit, which removes roughly 50 seconds of guitar noise in the beginning of the song.

WEA/4AD, PRO-CD-6108:
# "Mistress" (Remix) - 4:03
# "Grace Cathedral Park" - 3:51
# "Strawberry Hill" [Edit] - 6:44
# "Mistress" (Piano Version) - 4:31

Reviews

* [http://www.avclub.com/content/node/67009 Permanent Records, The A.V. Club's Hall Of Fame: Red House Painters "Rollercoaster," by Marc Hawthorne]

References

ee also

* List of musicians with multiple self-titled albums
* Grace Cathedral, San Francisco