GOATBRIDGE PALACE

This EP was released as a promotional recording which featured two tracks straight off Money Machine and, from what I can tell, there isn't any difference between these track versions and their studio album counterparts.

The studio material is followed by four live tracks that were recorded in my hometown of Stockholm, Sweden back in December 2000. Unfortunately I knew nothing about the band at that particular point in time so needless to say I wasn't attending the show. Incidentally, Södra Teatern is actually one of my least favorite venues due to the sound quality that the theater hall resonates and this recording definitely suffers from that problem.

Another problem on the live tracks is Damon Fox's vocal performance which first sounds unworthy of the live performances that I've seen him do over the years. Fortunately this issue gets resolved halfway through the performance and the cover of Black Sabbath's Sweet Leaf receives the treatment it truly deserves.

Overall Goatbridge Palace is considered somewhat of a relic since the EP has been out-of-print for quite some time and I was fortunate enough to find a copy of it in one of the downtown used record stores. Let's just say that the EP was sold at a very affordable price so I basically couldn't resist the temptation! If anything this recording marked the transitional period in the band's line-up where Andrew H.M. Butler-Jones was still aboard while it also featured the newly recruited Duffy Snowhill on bass.

I'd say that this EP is good, but non-essential and I even doubt that anyone will be able to find a copy since Goatbridge Palace isn't available on either Amazon or eBay.

***** star songs: Side Effects (3:12)

**** star songs: (Another) Nervous Breakdown (3:22) Neuropsychopathic Eye (live) (4:20) Sweet Leaf (live) (6:03)

*** star songs: Sellout (live) (5:19) Money Machine (live) (8:23)