Broken Bride

Infobox Album


Cover size = 170
Name = Broken Bride
Released = 2005
Type = EP
Recorded =
Genre = Rock
Length = 27:16
Label = Redbird Records
Producer =
Reviews =
*Absolute Punk Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=98682 link]
Artist = Ludo
Last album = "Ludo" (2003)
This album = "Broken Bride" (2005)
Next album = "You're Awful, I Love You" (2008)

"Broken Bride" is a rock opera/concept album by the band Ludo.

Track listing

All songs written by Andrew Volpe, except for "The Lamb and the Dragon", which was a collaboration between Volpe and Tim Ferrell.
# "Pt. 1: Broken Bride" - 3:50
# "Save Our City" - 6:36
# "Pt. 2: Tonight's the Night" - 2:51
# "Pt. 3: The Lamb and the Dragon" - 8:16
# "Pt. 4: Morning in May" - 5:43

Storyline

The songs on the EP are in the order in which they occur in the story, with the exception of "Save Our City," which serves as an interlude.

Broken Bride is the story of a man known as the Traveler, whose wife died in a car crash in the year 1989. Devastated, he spends the next fifteen years of his life building a time machine that will allow him to return to the morning in May when she died, hopefully to save her from her fate. Once the machine is complete, the Traveler successfully goes back in time. Unfortunately, the time machine's circuits fail, and the Traveler lands in the time when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Attacked by pterodactyls, he seeks refuge in a cave, and despairs that all his effort has been in vain. (Part I: Broken Bride)

Meanwhile, in the far future, apocalypse has begun. The dead have risen from their graves to attack the living, and people watch in horror as their city is beset by zombies. The zombies are led by King Simius, who is also commanding a dragon throughout the town. A little boy pleads with the city's mayor (the False Prophet) to defend their town. Instead, the mayor panics, and with a salute to the king Simius, commits suicide. Soldiers fall before the undead, only to rise as zombies themselves and march on the city in service of the Dragon. Even as the end looks near, the boy goes to the window of city hall and cries out to the people to take up arms and defend themselves against the zombies and the Dragon. (Save Our City)

Back in prehistoric times, the Traveler has been hiding in the cave for some time. Unable to think of anything but his beloved and the times they shared, he resolves to make a run for the time machine that very night. (Part II: Tonight's The Night)

After narrowly escaping a pack of raptors, the Traveler reclaims his machine. This time, however, he shoots too far forward and finds himself at Armageddon. King Simius (turning out to be the Antichrist, and son of the Dragon) survives his throat being slit, and now leads the Dragon's forces (composed of mislead survivors) from Babylon. Eventually, the Dragon himself comes to destroy the world. Faced with the decision of saving the world or saving his wife, the Traveler chooses the former. The Traveler uses his time machine to bring the pterodactyls which tormented him previously to kill the evil Dragon, destroying the time machine in the process. Having stranded himself in the future, the Traveler is approached by celestial beings, who wonder why he is still heartbroken despite having saved the souls of the world. In return for his selfless act, they bring him back to that morning in May when his wife was still alive. (Part III: The Lamb And The Dragon)

The Traveler enters his home in the year of 1989 (again), and finds his wife alive in their bed. Moved beyond words, he quickly realizes she is just about to leave on the very car trip that will kill her. He knows that, for some unspoken reason, he cannot stop her from dying. Catching her just in time, he joins her in the car, suggesting that he dies along with her. (Part IV: Morning In May)

tage Adaptation

In November 2006, Broken Bride was produced for the first time ever as a fully staged theater piece by University Theater at the University of Chicago [ [http://media.www.studlife.com/media/storage/paper337/news/2007/08/27/Cadenza/Keeping.It.Local.Up.Close.With.Ludo-2938179.shtml Keeping it local: Up close with Ludo - Cadenza ] ] . The 28 minute concept album was adapted for the stage by first time director Paul Bruton.

Bruton received permission from the band to stage Broken Bride in spring 2006 and proposed a black box theater production for that fall. Broken Bride utilized a minimalistic, expressionist approach to stage design wherein a variety of complex locations can be implied within a limited setting.

Music for the production was provided by the band in the form of a re-mixed version of the album, completely stripped of all primary and back-up vocals, with the exception of a few harmonies in "Save Our City" and "Part III: The Lamb and the Dragon". The melodies were arranged for the fifteen member cast by Tristan Cosino, who also coached and directed the ensemble.

Personnel

*Andrew Volpe - Vocals, Guitar
*Tim Ferrell - Guitar, Backing Vocals
*Tim Convey - Moog, Backing Vocals
*Marshall Fanciullo - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
*Matt Palermo - Drums, Backing Vocals

References

External links

* [http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Broken+Bride Storyline Information]

* [http://www.ludorock.com/ Ludo's Official Website]

* [http://maroon.uchicago.edu/online_edition/voices/2006/10/31/zombies-dragons-at-ut/ Review of the Stage Adaptation]