Game Theory
leader
Scott Miller
never made a secret of his fondness for
Big Star
, and while
Real Nighttime
favored the lush but direct sound of
#1 Record
, and
The Big Shot Chronicles
suggested the harder-edged tone of
Radio City
,
Lolita Nation
plays like
's variation on the themes of
's masterfully damaged swan song,
Third/Sister Lovers
. Certainly
's most ambitious album,
was a two-LP set that combined some of
Miller
's most user-friendly power pop squared off against dark, moody ruminations on betrayal, failed love, and mortality, all of it punctuated with bursts of avant-garde noise and unclassifiable studio doodling, and finally thrown into a sonic Cuisinart through
's aggressive use of aural montage.
's most challenging work,
is a bit disorienting on first listen, though it finds the band playing at the very top of its form on demanding material. New guitarist
Donnette Thayer
made an impressive debut, and drummer
Gil Ray
and keyboardist
Shelley LaFreniere
delivered outstanding performances. There are more than a few flat-out brilliant tracks, such as "Chardonnay," "The Waist and the Knees," and "The Real Sheila," alongside such head-scratchers as "Turn Me on Dead Man," "Watch Who You're Calling Space Garbage Meteor Mouth," and the 22nd track (which stubbornly defies titling).
was the point where the many ideas and approaches
had experimented with on
's earlier albums finally came together in a (pardon the expression) blaze of glory, and if the album is a bit much to absorb on first listen, few rock albums of the '80s reward repeated listening more than this one.
was one of the few rock musicians who often (and fittingly) cited
James Joyce
as an influence, and
is his Ulysses, a dense, profoundly idiosyncratic masterpiece. [In 2016,
Omnivore Recordings
reissued
as a remastered two-LP set pressed on translucent dark green vinyl. The set included a digital download card for the 27 album tracks plus an additional 21 bonus tracks from the Deluxe Edition, including a 7:49 version of "Chardonnay," radio sessions, rough mixes, demos, and live tracks, and including cover versions of songs by
David Bowie
the Modern Lovers
Sex Pistols
Elvis Costello
the Smiths
the Stooges
Joy Division
the Hollies
Public Image Ltd.
] ~ Mark Deming