Roland Orzabal - Tomcats Screaming Outside - 2001

Huge expectations and desires when this one came out.  Why he chose to use his name rather than Tears For Fears is really beyond me, considering he'd been doing it that way for a decade.  I know that he and Curt were working together again, but another release of TfF would have gotten him a hell of a lot more attention than an album under his own name.

Excellent, excellent material on this one.  Absolutely fabulous.  One track after the next, we get classic Orzabal sound, with a modern flare and experimentation.  A little more electronic, drum & bass, and other styles current to this release.  Mind you, there are two songs on this one, though that I don't really care for, but for the sake of all of you, I won't tell you which ones, as I don't want to ruin it for anyone.  But, for the rest, all I can say is WOW.

It's unfortunate that it didn't get any attention or airplay.  But, when you have a name like Roland, and you are unknown to the general populace that doesn't normally pay attention much, it's bound to happen.  Wikipedia seems to blame it on 9/11, as it was released on that day, but I doubt that.  Maybe Wiki is just indirectly claiming it was cursed?  I don't know.  All I know is that it is one of Orzabal's best, and needs to be recognized for it.

Always hated the original cover, it just doesn't jive well for me.  Used the Lowlife single sleeve for this one, and seems more appropriate.

Dude, it's been one of those weeks.  Sorry for posting late, but yesterday sucked hard.  Plain and simple.

Roland Orzabal - Tomcats Screaming Outside - 2001 

Pet Shop Boys - Release - 2001

When this album came out, I was drowning in depression.  DROWNING.  9/11 had just happened, I had quit my job in the heat of passion, my son had just been born, and my wife and I were struggling together.  The depression was the worst.  It was my pre-medicated years, and I would try anything that I came across to self-medicate (use your imagination.)  I hadn't started seeing a shrink yet, and I would come home from work and have this strong urge to go into the kitchen, get out one of my large carving knives, and plunging it down into the suprasternal notch of my neck (look it up.)  I would get tunnel vision a lot and severe panic attacks.  I would curl up in a ball on my knees and scream.  This contributed to, and worked hand in hand with my quitting my job.  And, with 9/11 happening, I had this overwhelming feeling that the world was crashing around me, too.

For this reason, there are specific albums I can no longer listen to.  They remind me too much of that time lost to fear and anxiety.  They take me to a dark place.

But, musically, there was one shining spot of piece for me.  One album that I could listen to that helped calm me, and helped me recuperate.  Obviously, it was PSB's Release, otherwise I wouldn't be telling this story now.

Home and Dry and London, to this day, are two of my most favorite PSB songs.  Samurai In Autumn and You Choose stand out, as well.  It was a very mature and peaceful album that captured the Boys at their best, personally, since Very.  I remember it well, listening to it at home or in my car, and it being snowy, cold and overcast outside.  It would make those dark days more bearable, soothing and warming, even in the dark nights of winter.

Any doubt about my 2001 nightmare, remember these two posts - Here & Here

Anyhow, one of their best, always will be. Remix Discs to come later....

Disc One  &  Disc Two

 

Curve - Gift - 2001

Oh, this one brings back such memories, and none of them good.  When this one came out, I was working at literally the worst job I had ever had.  I was a kitchen manager for a steak house, and I was working for a General Manager and a District Manager who were both brutal.  They were the bosses that you would see on an Undercover World's Worst Bosses reality show.  Common names I was called by these managers were dumbshit, stupid fuck, lazy ass and the likes.  They were never ever nice.  I cannot remember them being polite without cutting you to ribbons in the same conversation. 

I also hadn't started my anti-depressant and anti-anxiety meds yet.  I didn't know I needed them.  So I would have these anxiety attacks that were blinding and debilitating, while also wanting to cut my own neck.  Sad thing is, I'm not kidding or exaggerating, either.

My wife and I had our first child, and we had just moved back to her home town.  This album came out, and having not cared for Come Clean, I was a little apprehensive about it.  But, having purchased it, and driving to my most hated job, all I could think about was wanting to be back home with my wife and child.  I popped it in the CD player and turned that fucker up as loud as I could.  That CD did not leave my player for about 10 days.  I memorized it.

My favorite tracks are Perish, and the b-side Recovery remix.  I liked all of the tracks, but those two were particularly cathartic for me.  The extra tracks from the other artists that Toni guest-vocalled on I didn't know of at the time, but they fit perfectly with the collection.

It's actually difficult for me to listen to this CD even though I love it, specifically for the emotions, memories and feelings it stirs.  Memories, emotions, and feelings I try my damnedest to keep buried deep.  I hope that one day I can use it in a healing nature, instead of wounding.

Curve - Gift - 2001

AIR - 10,000 Hz Legend - 2001

AIR, an acronym for Amour Imagination Rêve (Love Imagination Dream) is two men from France who got together in 1995.  I didn't hear of them until well after they had released Moon Safari, an album that I really liked.  I went and saw the movie Virgin Suicides specifically because of their soundtrack.  I thought they were great, a nice jazzy, laidback band with a retro feel.

Then, 10000 Hz Legend.

This album is probably the only "experimental" album that I've listened to and liked.  From first note to last chord, this album is downright weird.  But, you can't help but love it.  The imagination behind it is incredible.  It sounds like an old album trying to be futuristic, or a futuristic album trying to be old.  I can't decide which.

The best tracks are Electronic Performers, How Does It Make You Feel?, Radio #1, People In the City and Don't Be Light.  I put the b-sides on here, but no mixes, as the mixers couldn't capture the vision that the band had, and it normalized the tracks and made them bland and shitty.

The albums since this one have been good, but this one was the best.  Nothing can compare to it.  It's a journey through a twisted robotic brain on acid. 

I got this album shortly after my first son was born.  I was working at this hellhole steak house with a regional manager that was Satan incarnate.  If anyone knows Brandon Heinsen, let him know he's a fucking douchebag.  This album helped me escape the horror that was my life at the time, as I was also suffering from severe depression at the time.  It was almost like the album was how I was feeling.  It was a time that I never want to go back to, but this album was one of the few from that moment in my life that I can still listen to (Can't hack Cure's Bloodflowers anymore.)  I have to thank my wife for sticking by me at that time.  I really put her through a lot of stress.  She's a gem...

ANYWAY.

Download and listen.

AIR - 10,000 Hz Legend - 2001