Glum | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1994 | |||
Studio | Kingsway | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 49:41 | |||
Label | Imago | |||
Producer |
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Giant Sand chronology | ||||
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Glum is an album by the American band Giant Sand, released in 1994. [1] [2] It was the band's first album to be distributed by a major label. [3] Giant Sand supported it with a North American tour. [4]
Recorded at Daniel Lanois's New Orleans home studio, the album was produced by Malcolm Burn, Howe Gelb, and John Convertino. [5] Gelb wrote "Bird Song" with his young daughter. [5] "Frontage Road" is about characters living in a subdivision. [6] Pappy Allen sang on the cover of Hank Williams's " I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"; the album is dedicated to him. [7] [8] Victoria Williams contributed vocals to "Spun". [9] Chris Cacavas, of Green on Red, played keyboards on "1 Helvakowboy Song". [10] Rainer Ptacek played a dobro on "Left"; Peter Holsapple contributed slide guitar to "Yer Ropes". [11] [12] "Painted Bird" was inspired by the Jerzy Kosiński novel. [9]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Arizona Republic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Philadelphia Daily News | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 7/10 [15] |
The Tampa Tribune | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Philadelphia Daily News wrote that "Gelb writes and growls the glum, surreal sagas of life on the edge with the passion of a man possessed." [6] Rolling Stone said that the title track "trails an especially gnarled solo with an Ivory-soft surf-guitar finale as its lyrics twist from contempt to confusion." [14] Newsday concluded that "if music this genuinely idiosyncratic can penetrate the mainstream, then there truly has been an alternative revolution." [17] Trouser Press opined that Gelb's "unilateral rejection of form can get a bit tiring, especially when the meandering 'Frontage Rd.' runs smack into the stoner fusion of '1 Helvakowboy Song'." [18]
The Vancouver Sun praised "Gelb's idiosyncratic electric guitar style—something like getting Crispin Glover drunk and setting him loose with Neil Young's gear." [19] The Washington Post deemed the album a "self-indulgently slapdash effort." [10] The Times Colonist determined that "Glum sounds like an electric and electrifying soundtrack for a modern Heart of Darkness, if Kurtz were holed up in a broken-down trailer in the California desert instead of the jungle." [20] The Arizona Republic stated that the album "blends the experimental and obscure with twangy, insistent rock beats." [13]
Mojo considered Glum to be "an obscure gem" and Giant Sand's "masterpiece". [21]
Glum | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1994 | |||
Studio | Kingsway | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 49:41 | |||
Label | Imago | |||
Producer |
| |||
Giant Sand chronology | ||||
|
Glum is an album by the American band Giant Sand, released in 1994. [1] [2] It was the band's first album to be distributed by a major label. [3] Giant Sand supported it with a North American tour. [4]
Recorded at Daniel Lanois's New Orleans home studio, the album was produced by Malcolm Burn, Howe Gelb, and John Convertino. [5] Gelb wrote "Bird Song" with his young daughter. [5] "Frontage Road" is about characters living in a subdivision. [6] Pappy Allen sang on the cover of Hank Williams's " I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"; the album is dedicated to him. [7] [8] Victoria Williams contributed vocals to "Spun". [9] Chris Cacavas, of Green on Red, played keyboards on "1 Helvakowboy Song". [10] Rainer Ptacek played a dobro on "Left"; Peter Holsapple contributed slide guitar to "Yer Ropes". [11] [12] "Painted Bird" was inspired by the Jerzy Kosiński novel. [9]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Arizona Republic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Philadelphia Daily News | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 7/10 [15] |
The Tampa Tribune | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Philadelphia Daily News wrote that "Gelb writes and growls the glum, surreal sagas of life on the edge with the passion of a man possessed." [6] Rolling Stone said that the title track "trails an especially gnarled solo with an Ivory-soft surf-guitar finale as its lyrics twist from contempt to confusion." [14] Newsday concluded that "if music this genuinely idiosyncratic can penetrate the mainstream, then there truly has been an alternative revolution." [17] Trouser Press opined that Gelb's "unilateral rejection of form can get a bit tiring, especially when the meandering 'Frontage Rd.' runs smack into the stoner fusion of '1 Helvakowboy Song'." [18]
The Vancouver Sun praised "Gelb's idiosyncratic electric guitar style—something like getting Crispin Glover drunk and setting him loose with Neil Young's gear." [19] The Washington Post deemed the album a "self-indulgently slapdash effort." [10] The Times Colonist determined that "Glum sounds like an electric and electrifying soundtrack for a modern Heart of Darkness, if Kurtz were holed up in a broken-down trailer in the California desert instead of the jungle." [20] The Arizona Republic stated that the album "blends the experimental and obscure with twangy, insistent rock beats." [13]
Mojo considered Glum to be "an obscure gem" and Giant Sand's "masterpiece". [21]