A HISTORY OF MADNESS

TP's 2003 opus 'A History of Madness' is probably their most difficult album thus far, not only in complexity but the fact that the songs are more subtile in contrast to the previous avant-rock apex 'In Extremis', featuring slower, darker and more acoustic oriented compositions. The tension is intruging, but requires a few listens to catch it all due to all the messed up clues within the music. Of course, the music is enteriely atonal, but the clever orchestration of the songs and rhytmic syncopations are throughoutly exciting, with some really impressive musicianship, notably from former Sleepytime Gorilla Museum drummer David Shamrock, which lays down some of the most creative avant grooves I've heard so far. The first part of the album is fairly dark and jarring, the opener "Blown Apart" sets the tone instantly and takes you through a brain-scrambling rollercoaster ride into a house of horrors, while the next track sounds like a ritualistic nightmare reminiscent of earlier Plague tunes like 'Malaise' and 'Moonsongs' from their earlier years. Apart from some nicely done atonal piano interludes, the mid-section of the album is more ambient oriented which I feel fits nicely to the brooding mood of the whole album, though it might not be to everyones taste. The last proper tracks "Underground Stream" and "Lux Lucet" are two of my favorite TP tracks ever which really sums up the progression the band have made since the early 80's, these tunes are intense, uncomfortable (in a good way) and features some of the best ideas from Mike Johnson's mind. I would absolutely rank this album up there with 'In This Life' (my other favorite TP album) but this one definitely nedds more time to sink in to you. The music ain't pretty at first, as TP is indeed one of the strangest bands out there, but the rhythmic cleverness and multiple musical details are so cleverly constructed that you'll be left confused, scared and highly impressed by the whole thing. I can't go under 5 on this one, albums like this need to be explored by any avant-rock enthusiast!