SLINT - SPIDERLAND

What exactly am I gonna say about "Spiderland" that hasn't been already said?

Well, it was released on March 27, 1991. 18 years TO THE DAY later, I'd be doing my senior recital...on that day, Albert Oppenheimer would be turning 4 (if i'm correct)...

I'm not gonna lie - I got this album kind of late. It was probably junior year of high school...and while I thought it was fantastic, it didn't blow me away at the time. This whole idea of "loud-quiet-loud" instrumental passage crap was nothing new to me. Granted, I heard the lesser imitators of Slint, but still, one hears this album and they think the Earth shakes, the ground moves, the clouds part, Ray Liotta gets dentures, whatever - and for me, it's just a solid rock album.

Granted, I could go into the songs lyrical matter, but all I know about that is what I've read in other reviews. To be honest, I really don't care that "Good Morning, Captain" is based off of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", or "Breadcrumb Trail" is about a fortune teller in a tornado, or even that "Nosferatu Man" is about the guy who was in that movie that Tortoise scored once. For me, there's key lyrics that stand out: "wash yourself in your tears/build your church/on the strength of your fear", "we said goodbye to the ground", "I MISS YOU!!" - and those aren't even GOOD lyrics - it's all within Brian McMahan or Britt Walford (depending on the song)'s delivery.

The music itself is solid - quiet stuff, LOUD stuff, stuff with time signatures (HUGE in the world of MATH ROCK LOLLOLLOLLOLZZZZZZ), and really great sounding drums. There's even a song without drums, and then another song without words (which seems to always be building up, but never exploding in your face like a pressure cooker on Christmas), and most of the words aren't sung, they are talked or screamed. It's like living with Ray Liotta.

I've been living with Ray Liotta for weeks now. I swear, he needs new dentures.

And to be honest, there are times I don't listen to the whole album - I mean, if I'm driving, I don't want to hear the six and a half minutes of "Don, Aman" - all 390 seconds of "Don stepped outside, it felt good to be alone" in a whisper with some guitar strumming. But perhaps this isn't a driving album...then again, it's pretty great to listen to "Breadcrumb Trail" or "Good Morning, Captain" because those songs are great.

OVERALL RATING - Santiago Durango's glasses.
KEY TRACKS - "Good Morning, Captain", "Breadcrumb Trail", "Washer"