Artist: Thinking Plague
Label: Cuneiform
Released: 2003
Length: 55:16
Rating: 4.4/5
Sawing distorted guitars! Squealing male vocals! Rattling bass drums! Big testosterone-fueled balls! Rock ‘n’ roll … but that’s not what we’re talking about today. Quite the opposite, though the big balls are still here. In opposition to that wave of bands that crashed over the last century, a completely distinct genre developed – RIO, aka rock in opposition, rock that didn’t follow the usual playbook or the standard lineup of two guitars, drums and vocals. It explored the more complex, more interesting and still uncharted dimensions of rock music, much like progressive rock (RIO is, after all, filed as a subgenre of prog). In plain terms, you could call it rock’s avant-garde. It was born in Europe, and the biggest driving force was probably Henry Cow, who, together with bands like Univers Zero and Samla Mammas Manna, spread its popularity across Europe. The man who sowed the seeds of avant-rock across America was surely Frank Zappa, who prepared the ground for some of the later successful avant-rock groups, Thinking Plague to be exact.
At first glance, Thinking Plague look like just another of the many eclectic bands mixing rock, jazz and modern classical music. That couldn’t be more wrong, and Thinking Plague are definitely not just “another one.” The Americans retreat into the quirkiness and complexity of the most obscure corners of those genres, and with an incredible sense of symphonic grandeur and aesthetics, they fuse them into the most impossible melodic structures. With the hauntingly beautiful vocals of Deborah Perry, which at times outdo any Phantom of the Opera, the avant-rock requirements are met. On their latest album, “A History of Madness,” Thinking Plague tried out even more experimentation than ever before. The second-to-last album, “In Extremis,” earned them a spot among the graves of prog rockers, so “A History of Madness” was the perfect chance for yet another feat of innovation.
“A History of Madness” is an album for repeated listening. Not in the sense that you’ll be hooked after the first spin and then play it on repeat forever, but rather that you’ll keep inching toward that forever until you understand the album, grasp all the hidden instrumental and lyrical hints and, last but not least, fall in love with it. The album leans much less toward rock and heads into complete independence from popular prog-rock moves, but in these most idiosyncratic tracks it disappoints just a bit. It’s still most impressive with the songs that have prog rock running through their veins, no matter how much they stand in opposition to cliché rock ‘n’ roll rules. These are adorned with the incredible originality of Mike Johnson’s solos, which fit the music in their strangeness, are completely different from classic rock solos, yet are still incredibly melodic, even though at times you could call them anti-melodic – in the sense of Fripp’s work with King Crimson. A personal favorite is definitely “Lux Lucet,” mostly for the incredibly well-woven melodies of all sorts of instruments and vocals; the classical guitar is used especially cleverly, not for a touch of folk, as is usual in this kind of music, but as a kind of organic companion to the vocals, a progressive rhythmic element that holds and steers the tangled time irregularities.
On top of the instrumental genius, there’s the extremely appealing lyrical concept of the album. The story unfolds in 10th-century France, and the protagonists are members of a Catholic sect who believed they were in the right and followed ideas the Church didn’t take kindly to. The lyrics deal with the sect itself, its destruction, death and life after it. Perry’s vocals reach out a hand to the listener, accompany them and welcome them into the world Thinking Plague build with their atonal music; that makes it all the easier to get inside the protagonists’ minds.
“A History of Madness” is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece that ticks every box of what a work of musical art should be – even more, it’s a record that’s artistically polished from every angle. The literary and musical craftsmanship and the way they correlate are thought out from head to tail, each serving the other for added experience while also living on an equal level, which makes each work fantastically on its own, too. Sadly, Thinking Plague haven’t released anything new since 2004, and if this is their last studio effort, it’s certainly a superb farewell.
Lineup
Mike Johnson – guitars and compositions
Deborah Perry – vocals
Mark Harris – saxophones, flute, clarinet
Matt Mitchell – keyboards
Dave Willey – bass guitar, accordion
David Shamrock – drums
Guest musicians:
Kent McLagen – double bass
Jean Harrison – violin
Ron Miles – trumpet
Dave Kerman – percussion
Leslie Jordan – voice
Mark McCoin – samples and processing
Production
Mike Johnson and Mark McCoin
Tracklist
1. Blown Apart (8:35)
2. Consolamentum (4:02)
3. Rapture of the Deep (5:59)
4. Gúdamy le Máyagot (An Phocainn Theard… (2:54)
5. Marching as to War, No. 1 performed by Thinking Plague / Ladies Senior Piano Crusade (1:22)
6. Our -Way of Life- and -War on Terra (5:23)
7. Marching, No. 2 (0:41)
8. Least Aether for Saxophone & Le Gouffre (8:52)
9. The Underground Stream (6:02)
10. Marching, No. 3 (0:47)
11. Lux Lucet (9:36)
12. Marching, No. 4 – Reverie for the Children (1:00)
