THE GOLDEN PALOMINOS

A HISTORY (1986-1989)

  1/  I've Been the One                          (George)                      3.17
  2/  Something Becomes Nothing                  (Fier,Blegvad,Sweet)          4.54
  3/  The Push and The Shove                     (Kidney)                      4.22
  4/  (Something Else Is) Working Harder         (Fier,Harris,Blegvad)         5.10
  5/  Angels                                     (Fier,Blegvad,Straw)          4.58
  6/  Diamond                                    (Holsapple)                   4.30
  7/  Faithless Heart                            (Fier,Harris,Dixon)           4.00
  8/  Work Was New                               (Fier,Blegvad)                4.00
  9/  Strong, Simple Silences                    (Fier,Blegvad)                4.15
  10/ Wild River                                 (Kidney)                      4.40
  11/ Shattered Image                            (Fier,Skopelitis,Kramer)      5.25
  12/ Angel of Death                             (Fier,Skopelitis,Kramer)      4.43
  13/ Lucky                                      (Kidney)                      4.54
  14/ Darklands                                  (Fier,Skopelitis,Kramer)      6.46
  15/ A Letter Back                              (Kidney)                      7.04

          Tracks 1-9 recorded at RPM Studio
          Tracks 1-9 recorded and mixed by "Iron" Mike Krowiak at RPM Studio
          Assisted by Jeff Lippay
          Additional recording by Don Hunerberg at Radio City Music Hall Studio and
            Larry Hirsch at Eldorado Studios
          Tracks 10-15 recorded at Platinum Island, New York
          Engineers on tracks 10-15: Steve Rinkoff, William Garrett, Robert Musso,
            Oz Fritz and John Herman
          Tracks 10-15 mixed by Steve Rinkoff at Platinum Island
          Assistant: Oz Fritz
          Drum Tech on tracks 10-15: Steve Klatz
          Produced and arranged by Anton Fier
          Project Coordinator: Sarah Auld
          Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound
Anton Fier: percussion, drums; Aiyb Dieng (1): percussion; Chris Stamey (1): bass; Lisa Herman (1): piano; Peter Blegvad (1,2,4,5,6,8,9): six & twelve string guitars, vocals; Sneaky Pete Kleinow (1,7): pedal steel guitar; Syd Straw (1,2,4,5,6,8,9): vocals, background vocals; Bill Laswell (except (1,7,9)): bass; Bernie Worrell (except 1): Hammond organ; Jody Harris (2,3,4,5,6,7,8): guitar; Nicky Skopelitis (2,4,10-15): guitar; Matthew Sweet (2): vocals; Robert Kidney (3,10-15): guitar, vocals; Larry Saltzman (4): guitar; Jack Bruce (4): vocals; Tony Coniff (5,8,9): bass; Don Dixon (7): guitar, vocals; T-Bone Burnett (8,9): guitar, vocals; Carla Bley (9): piano; Pat Thrall (9): guitar; Amanda Kramer (10-15): keyboards, vocals; Jeff Bova (10-15: keyboards; Aiyb Dieng (10-15): percussion; Chuck Leavell (10-15): organ; Larry Saltzman (10-15): acoustic guitar; Mick Taylor (10-15): guitar.

          1992 - Metronome Records/Mau Mau (UK), MAUCD 626 (CD)

REVIEWS :

The second in a two-disc retrospective of early work by the Golden Palominos, this disc contains most of Blast of Silence and A Dead Horse, leaving out only "Brides of Jesus" from the former and "Over" from the latter. The Palominos were a constantly shifting group of medium-to-big-name studio musicians that revolved around drummer and organizer Anton Fier, and these two albums do not represent the band at its best either in terms of material or membership. This was the post-Arto Lindsay and pre-Lori Carson period, which is to say the Syd Straw and Robert Kidney period. The Blast of Silence sessions suffered from serious stylistic confusion, with pseudo-country ("I've Been the One") thrown in next to punky rock ("The Push and the Shove") and no one really sounding sure of what's going on. Don Dixon contributes the raw and wonderful "Faithless Heart," but the quality of both his singing and his song just makes everyone else look that much worse. Serious sound problems pound the final nail in this album's coffin. The tracks from A Dead Horse are something of an improvement. The singing and songwriting are split between Robert Kidney, who rocks, and Amanda Kramer, who meanders. Kidney's "Wild River" is great rock & roll, but Kramer's aimless and uninvolving "Angel of Death" is a disgrace. This compilation is for fans only.

3 stars out of 5

Rick Anderson (courtesy of All Music Guide website)