With no real songs to speak of,
Eyeless in Gaza
's debut was inundated with an erratic
pop
sensibility and a frustrating non-style-over-substance sense of work ethic. Only the occasional success hinted of things to come. The one-two punch of
"Speech Rapid Fire"
and
"John of Patmos"
would go on to stand up well against anything the band later released, the former a mangled, melancholic take on '80s
synth pop
and the latter squealing off in far too many directions to suggest a well-adjusted mindset and using both pre-
IDM
beat mechanics and structureless Arkestra anti-music to deconstruct the ubiquitous mid-album
ballad
. [This was later reissued on CD in 2000 with the bonus tracks
"Invisibility,"
"Three Kittens,"
"Plague of Years,"
"Others,"
"Jane Dancing,"
"Ever Present,"
"Avenue With Trees."
] ~ Dean Carlson