Et Tu, Terence Trent D'Arby?

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I'm listening to Symphony or Damn for the first time in nearly a decade and I must say this record is every bit as terrifically insane as I remember it being. I mean this fucker is WEIRD. Honestly, getting a live-in studio and writing & producing this record himself was NUTS. Which is exactly why I adore this album. "She Kissed Me" is a classic single, given, but listening to "Penelope Please", "Neon Messiah", and "Do You Love Me Like You Say" I'm beginning to think this is one of the best purchases I ever made as a clueless 14 y.o. It's certainly aged extremely well.

DYLMLYS is this ridiculous pastiche of about 14 different ideas for other pop songs and perhaps a couple of advertising jingles all crammed together drunk at 4AM with lyrics that make a passing reference to TTD's g/f having daddy issues. And dragons.

Neon Messiah is organs-and-brass bombast married to college lyrics and this half-demented clav funk line. I can't decide which is more exciting, this or 'She Kissed Me' - I think NM probably loses because the ending is kind of a useless fadeout, where SKM pans and flanges everywhere while fading out. Whoo hoo, right? It works for me.

Penelope Please is worth it for one thing and one thing only -
"PEN-EL-O-PE PLEEAAASSE" *twaaaanngg!!!*
Fucking brilliant.

The second part of the album - in which TTD makes the fine decision to put all of the slow songs on tracks 10-16 and finishing with 'Let Her Down Easy' - there's a couple of things worth listening to, but on the whole, nothing beats the above, at least for my hard-earned beer money. LHDE might be a hell of a ballad and a nice narrative but EH. Pianos and storytellin' != why I buy pop albums.

TTD has his handle on a lot of great noises on this record - you can tell he spent plenty of time flipping through the presets on his synths and such, and while there aren't quite as many meaningless flourishes as I'd like on an album of this sort, there are certainly plenty of things you can't imagine hearing on another record, ever, except as a tribute or a gag. Whether this makes TTD unique or just stupid is up to you.

I'm probably going to regret this, aren't I? Fuck it.

Millar (Millar), Wednesday, 4 June 2003 23:01 (twenty years ago) link

I was very, very tempted at the time to get this album, but opted to get the "She Kissed Me" cassingle instead. Still tempted. Chris Rock once said that he'll play TTD for people all the time and they'll be like 'ohmigod who is this? this is incredible!' and then he'll tell them it's TTD and they'll look at him like he replaced their regular coffee with Folger's or something. I remember the single (or the video at least) for "Dance Little Sister" being different ('rawer') than the lp version - confirmation anyone?

James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 9 June 2003 04:57 (twenty years ago) link

Wildcard! is great but it would be even greater with approximately 30 minutes hacked off.

Andy K (Andy K), Monday, 9 June 2003 11:20 (twenty years ago) link

Strangely, I thought about TTD yesterday, and decided I was going to get Symphony or Damn myself. I have Neither Fish nor Flesh and think it's kind of a failure, but a very interesting one.

Sean (Sean), Monday, 9 June 2003 14:03 (twenty years ago) link

I fully endorse "Symphony or Damn" myself...I found his Whitman-loving weirdness very appealing, at that point, and he sings the hell out of those songs ("Succumb to Me" is particularly great,) which forgives the occasional (or more-than-occasional) drippy production-move.

"Wishing Well" is a top tune. I didn't care for the rest of that album myself, though I remember seeing him do the best version of "The First Cut Is The Deepest" I've ever heard--of many--on telly around that time.

M Specktor (M Specktor), Monday, 9 June 2003 14:52 (twenty years ago) link

eleven months pass...
terence got fucked over by precious and stupid rock journos for:

a) being too much of a pretty boy
b) saying that his first album was better than sgt peppers. apparently its ok for the gallaghers to talk shit about the beatles but not terence
c) supposedly being too arrogant. like thats a bad thing.

that said, he made some truly brilliant songs, some great albums (pretentiousness - whatever), and possessed one of the greatest voices of the past 20 years.

thesplooge (thesplooge), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 17:27 (nineteen years ago) link

neither fish nor flesh also had some undeniable knock out songs, honest to god!

thesplooge (thesplooge), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 17:37 (nineteen years ago) link

He's also changed his name to Sananda Maitreya, which is apparently Buddhist for "saviour of the universe"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 22:40 (nineteen years ago) link

oh man why did i sell all my ttd records?

well, if i had kept them i guess i'd have to hide them in the sofa or something.

amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 03:39 (nineteen years ago) link

but you could still play them when noone was around or scratch the labels off the records and pretend it was someone else.

yeahyeahyeah (yeahyeahyeah), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 11:42 (nineteen years ago) link

I bought a cheapie cassette in Turkey of "fish/flesh". The good/great songs are the ones not "produced by TTD/all instruments TTD".

The remainder are very sillie indeed.

mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 11:49 (nineteen years ago) link

i guess it's hard to live with cds that you know are gracing every cut-out and discount bin in every record store in america. (or even the "three CDs for $10" bin in every used record store.) poor guy, he fell hard when he fell.

amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 17:00 (nineteen years ago) link

I am probably alone on this, but "It's Been Said" from the Vibrator is one of my most favoritest quasi-slow-jams ever.

Jay Smooth (jsmooth995), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:11 (nineteen years ago) link

yeah, see there was good stuff on those later records (although often there would be some kind of spoken-word break or silly instrumental passage that would blunt the impact; that's what happens when you have a runaway ego i guess).

amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 19 May 2004 20:17 (nineteen years ago) link

six months pass...
Terence Trent D'arby (now Sananda Maitreya)is terribly underrated. He's a very talented singer-songwriter-musician. Introducing the Hardline is incredible, one of the best debut albums ever. The whole album is great, especially "Sign Your Name", "Wishing Well", and "Dance Little Sister".

Leelee, Monday, 29 November 2004 02:49 (nineteen years ago) link

but does anybody remember The Incredible E.G. O'Reilly?

mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 29 November 2004 09:29 (nineteen years ago) link

four months pass...
"wishing well" and "sign your name" are both fantastic, after all of these years!!

Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 05:37 (nineteen years ago) link

Hell, even "Symphony or Damn" has its good points.

Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 05:58 (nineteen years ago) link

but does anybody remember The Incredible E.G. O'Reilly?

Hah yes, I'm pretty sure I have the 7"!

OleM (OleM), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 06:42 (nineteen years ago) link

People should track down the Dance Little Sister 12" -definite JB rip down to the distinct pt. 1 pt2.

Jedmond (Jedmond), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 12:53 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm getting ghost goosebumps thinking about "Sign Your Name".

That acapella track near the end of the 1st album killed me (in a bad way). & I'd listen to Vibrator & Fishykins A LOT. Never heard Symphony.

David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 13:17 (nineteen years ago) link

"Sign Your Name" is truly great.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 13:18 (nineteen years ago) link

Hell, after all these years, I should just buy "Symphony or Damn"; it's real cheap at used record stores. I remember taping "She Kissed Me" and being really impressed by it.

Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 13:49 (nineteen years ago) link

Millar is completely OTM up there, it's great and demented. The first track:

1) is called Welcome To My Monasteryo
2) starts with the voice of sultry Terence saying the line
3) builds to a choir repeating the same line, with a diva giving it all in the background
4) is 30 seconds long

Which sets an appropriate pomposity level for the rest of the album.

Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 14:42 (nineteen years ago) link

"Sign Your Name" is completely godly; that bridge is one of the greatest things ever recorded.

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 14:43 (nineteen years ago) link

Another huzzah for "Sign Your Name"; this may rank in my top 10 singles of the 80s. For a while, back in the day, I thought it was a George Michael song.

Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 15:00 (nineteen years ago) link

What was that piano ballad? "Let Her Down Easy"? I loved that song....


xxxtra Mpls jazz punk cred: Dave King, local drummer extraordinaire (Bad Plus, Happy Apple, Love Cars, sometimes 12 Rods, FKG, shitloads of bands) drummed for TTD on tour for awhile (or at least so I'm told, but I tend to believe it)

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 15:15 (nineteen years ago) link

I just put "If You Let Me Stay" on a CR-90 - great vocal performance.

Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 15:37 (nineteen years ago) link

two years pass...

i still have not heard symphony or damn and desperately want to

but the vinyl of hardline is really great and this album is totally a gem.

is it "underrated" if it's well-received critically but pretty much forgotten by the general public? or does that make it "lost"? or is "lost" too high falutin a term (that TTD would no doubt approve of)?"

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 12 March 2008 06:13 (sixteen years ago) link

only 12 million people bought it, but every one of them started a neo-soul band.

i love the hardline. an important part of the soundtrack to my freshman-sophomore years at college.

tipsy mothra, Wednesday, 12 March 2008 07:22 (sixteen years ago) link

xpost: "Lost" works. And ITHL is certainly one of the Top 10 albums of the '80s (I'd put it in the top 3 myself). Haven't heard enough of NFNF or SOD to say anything about them, but I loved much of Wildcard!, especially "Shadows."

And I think both of these statements from the top of the thread are true:

maybe he's happy now

he assumed that, having had a hit record, he now got to do whatever struck him as interesting

Joseph McCombs, Wednesday, 12 March 2008 07:25 (sixteen years ago) link

And I think both of these statements from the top of the thread are true:

maybe he's happy now

How do you know that? Given comments made upthread -- e.g., ''Poor guy, when he fell, he fell hard'' -- I assumed otherwise, and felt badly about his circumstances.

Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 12 March 2008 08:27 (sixteen years ago) link

Symphony or Damn was not just one of the best albums of its year, but one of the great neo-Prince records. And you can find it cheap in used bins across the land.

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 12 March 2008 14:03 (sixteen years ago) link

I agree, and it's really not my sort of thing at all.

Myonga Vön Bontee, Wednesday, 12 March 2008 16:11 (sixteen years ago) link

Craig David on ITV's woeful Guilty Pleasures show on Saturday tackling "If You Let Me Stay"...oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Dingbod Kesterson, Wednesday, 12 March 2008 16:13 (sixteen years ago) link

How do you know that? Given comments made upthread -- e.g., ''Poor guy, when he fell, he fell hard'' -- I assumed otherwise, and felt badly about his circumstances.

From what I've read in interviews over the years, he doesn't seem to mind how it all turned out or that he's not topping the charts anymore.

Joseph McCombs, Thursday, 13 March 2008 06:10 (sixteen years ago) link

Lenny Kravitz kind of stole his MTV mojo.

Eazy, Thursday, 13 March 2008 06:19 (sixteen years ago) link

Symphony or Damn was not just one of the best albums of its year, but one of the great neo-Prince records. And you can find it cheap in used bins across the land.

-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, March 12, 2008 2:03 PM

I have been looking for like a year and can't find it!

Need to keep looking I guess.

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 13 March 2008 06:20 (sixteen years ago) link

I bet you can find it for a buck or a penny on Amazon.

If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Thursday, 13 March 2008 07:03 (sixteen years ago) link

two weeks pass...

The entire album is the sound of a great talent unburdened by doubt

I initially misread that.

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 18:28 (sixteen years ago) link

as?

elan, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 18:29 (sixteen years ago) link

ive not kept up to date with TTD's music since wildcard (which had one amazing song what should i do, in spite of the so-so guitar solo on it) but im interested to know what hes up to these days.

titchyschneiderMk2, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 18:30 (sixteen years ago) link

I love NFnF but I work with some people unburdened by doubt and believe me it's not that great.

Noodle Vague, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 18:32 (sixteen years ago) link

its not important if THEY are unburdened by doubt.

titchyschneiderMk2, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 18:37 (sixteen years ago) link

there are hints of Danger Mouse's controlled madness in the production

lol reference point

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 19:23 (sixteen years ago) link

hey, dangermouse is the only black producer making any good music these days. he is the best black producer ever.

titchyschneiderMk2, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 21:17 (sixteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...

"If You Let Me Stay" is IMMENSE.

Dom Passantino, Wednesday, 23 April 2008 07:58 (sixteen years ago) link

Sure is!

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 23 April 2008 12:45 (sixteen years ago) link

eight months pass...

This album needs more love. Is good.

Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 6 January 2009 05:08 (fifteen years ago) link

I had this weird dream that "She Kissed Me" was a children's playground song that went something like

Terence Trent D'arby's "She kissed Me" could be reworked as a naughty kid's song

"She kissed me
(Where?)
She kissed me THERE
Like no one else had kissed me there
(Yes, but WHERE? She kissed you WHERE?)
She kissed me neath my underwear!"

fuck you, your hat is horrible (Neanderthal), Thursday, 5 October 2017 17:58 (six years ago) link

Err oops didnt remove part of orig post. Bleh.

Always loved this dudes voice

fuck you, your hat is horrible (Neanderthal), Thursday, 5 October 2017 18:00 (six years ago) link

The new album, Prometheus & Pandora, is a 53-track smorgasbord of rock, funk, soul, jazz and psych, “written, arranged, produced, performed & conceived by Sananda Maitreya”

Eazy, Thursday, 5 October 2017 18:09 (six years ago) link

three years pass...

Happy birthday!. He rules.

So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 01:36 (three years ago) link

She Kissed Me is totally a fav

Red Nerussi (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 01:59 (three years ago) link

She put it THERE.

So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 02:36 (three years ago) link

She kissed me there
(She kissed you where?)
Down here!
(Down where?)
ON MY FUCKIN' DICK, Jesus why you had to make me say it?!

Red Nerussi (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 02:37 (three years ago) link

That 2017 interview is interesting in that he doesnt blame the music press at all for trying to take him down. Nor does he cite race much. Weird that hes described as part native American and Celtic but not African American! He was a dick tbh,kind of overplaying the rock star attitude too much, but I loved his music. That second album is classic if you ask me. Intrigued to hear the 53 song double album but idk if I really have the patience.

candyman, Tuesday, 16 March 2021 07:16 (three years ago) link

But his interview patter is not much better. In the 80s it was all hubris and cock sure, now it's just cryptics, fogging and arcane. Idk which is better.

candyman, Tuesday, 16 March 2021 07:18 (three years ago) link

SYMPHONY OR DAMN is one of the very best albums of the 90's. I'd love to see a reissue of it (and his other work)

beamish13, Tuesday, 16 March 2021 17:03 (three years ago) link

Is Introducing the Hard Line… out of print? Couldn't find it on Apple Music.

edited for dog profanity (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 17:07 (three years ago) link

(never mind; they have it under Compilations for some reason)

edited for dog profanity (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 17:09 (three years ago) link

i continue to listen to his new work every now and again and it always has things to recommend it and runs long.
first few albums are unassailable gold.

G.A.G.S. (Gophers Against Getting Stuffed) (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 17:28 (three years ago) link

looks like there's a new album out next week
https://www.sanandamaitreya.com/product/pandoras-playhouse-2cd-audio/
another double.

not heard his new music since wildcard tbh.

candyman, Tuesday, 16 March 2021 17:41 (three years ago) link

I can recommend Return to Zooathalon

G.A.G.S. (Gophers Against Getting Stuffed) (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 17:55 (three years ago) link

I've wondered where to start with the newer stuff. He sounds incredible on that Avalanches song.

swing out sister: live in new donk city (geoffreyess), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 21:59 (three years ago) link

It's about time of year for me to play "Let's Go Forward" on repeat.

swing out sister: live in new donk city (geoffreyess), Tuesday, 16 March 2021 22:00 (three years ago) link

Did not know he worked with the avalanches. Cool.

candyman, Tuesday, 16 March 2021 22:41 (three years ago) link

"Neither Fish ... " : still sounds immense.
his other major labels albums are good, but nothing comes close to the insanity of this.

mark e, Thursday, 18 March 2021 22:52 (three years ago) link

the sonic insanity vs the beauty of melody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao7KFRbbuoQ

mark e, Thursday, 18 March 2021 22:54 (three years ago) link

I say upthread about getting the cassette in Turkey, but more recently I got the cd of Fish and there's nothing wrong with it.

Mark G, Thursday, 18 March 2021 23:06 (three years ago) link


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