- You Walk Alone
Infobox Album
Name = You Walk Alone
Type =Album
Artist =Jandek
Released = 1987
Recorded = unknown
Genre =Blues Rock
Length = 42:48
Label =Corwood Industries
Producer = Corwood Industries
Reviews = *"Forced Exposure " (very favorable) [http://tisue.net/jandek/discog.html#0754 link]
Last album = "Blue Corpse "
(1987)
This album = "You Walk Alone"
(1988)
Next album = "On the Way "
(1988)"You Walk Alone" is the seventeenth album by
Jandek , and the first of two released in 1988. It isCorwood Industries (#0754), and is the first album by the "blues rock" band that followed the apparent meltdown of the original "garage rock" band.Overview
You Walk Alone introduces several new elements to the Jandek style, not the least of which is twin guitarists who play in a conventional manner, leading to speculation that neither of these players may be the Corwood Representative (whom, some suspect, is playing the "slacker" drums). The rhythm guitarist may well be "Eddie," as its slight off-rhythm and open sound is close to what was being played on
Blue Corpse . But the lead guitar here is something entirely new, and it seems that the Corwood Rep may have stumbled upon a genuine professional.This new sound is evident from the first bars of "Lavender," the opening instrumental. Gone are the odd tunings and playing styles, in are Clapton-style blues licks, and the band may be thought of as Jandek's idea of a "power trio." That's certainly the Corwood Rep on vocals on "Time and Space," and if the music sounds nothing like what's come before, the lyrics and vocals are sure by the same person. "He brought a lot of phony eyebrow pencils/I hid behind an electric fence/oh they brought all the jellyfish from Ireland...you said ah, just put ’em...in the closet." This Dylan-esque refrain (everything, no matter how ridiculous, gets "put in the closet")is a good example of the unique lyrics strewn throughout. And this style continues into "The Cat that Walked from Shelbyville," which is actually a re-write of the acoustic song "For Today" from
Follow Your Footsteps ; it's notable that no mention is made of a cat anywhere in the song (though the title could be a beat-like reference to a person, as in "that's one cool cat"). That leads to "Quinn Boys II" (a reworking of "Quinn Boys" from Blue Corpse) and "The Way That You Act." The album has a slight shift from there, with what appears to be "Eddie" taking over vocals on "I Know the Times," which features a guitar sounding much more like the Corwood Rep from the band of old. That leads to the nine minute "When the Telephone Melts" (a re-write of "when the telegraph melts," but making a little more sense, ie "when the telephone melts/and it's still ringing your name" making more sense than "when the telegraph melts/and it's still ringing your name," even if the song remains abstract in general) which continues the slightly different, more relaxed feel, somewhat sounding like the Jandek tune 'I'm Ready'. It all ends with the crazed hoops and hollers of "War Dance," which contains some rather violent images from a Native American perspective.Track listing
#Lavender – 3:49
#Time and Space – 7:28
#The Cat That Walked From Shelbyville – 6:23
#Quinn Boys II – 3:56
#The Way That You Act – 4:26
#I Know The Times – 3:17
#When The Telephone Melts – 9:06
#War Dance – 3:58External links
* [http://tisue.net/jandek/discog.html#0754 Seth Tisue's "You Walk Alone" review]
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