THE GOLDEN PALOMINOS

BLAST OF SILENCE

  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/ Brides of Jesus                            (Payne,George)                3.25

          Recorded at RPM Studio
          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
          Produced and arranged by Anton Fier
          Bandcamp version remastered by James Dellatacoma at Orange Music, West Orange, NJ
Anton Fier: percussion (1), drums (except 1); Aiyb Dieng: percussion (1); Chris Stamey: bass (1,10); Lisa Herman: piano (1,10); Peter Blegvad: guitar (1,4,5,6,10), six & twelve string guitar (2,8), acoustic & electric guitar (9), vocals [uncredited] (8); Sneaky Pete Kleinow: pedal steel guitar (1,7); Syd Straw: vocals (1,5,6,10), background vocals (2,4,7,8); Bill Laswell: bass (2,3,4,6,7); Bernie Worrell: Hammond organ (2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10); Jody Harris: guitar (2,3,4,5,6,7), lead guitar (8,10); Nicky Skopelitis: guitar solo (2), guitar (4,7); Matthew Sweet: vocals (2); Robert Kidney (3): guitar,vocals; Larry Saltzman: acoustic guitar (4); Jack Bruce : vocals (4); Tony Coniff: bass (5,8,9); Don Dixon (7): guitar, vocals; T-Bone Burnett: guitar (8,9), vocals (9); Carla Bley: piano (9); Pat Thrall: acoustic guitar (9).

          1986 - Celluloid (USA), CELL  6127 (Vinyl)
          1986 - Celluloid (USA), CEL N.Y. 6127 D (CD)
          2022 - Bill Laswell Bandcamp (Bassmatter Subscription Exclusive)

REVIEWS :

With Blast of Silence the group that began as an outlet for drummer Anton Fier and his friends in the New York avant-garde scene (Arto Lindsay, Fred Frith, etc.) unexpectedly veers off into country-rock and folk, of all places. But with Fier's reputation, listeners should realize from the start this is not country-rock in the New Riders of the Purple Sage fashion. Rather, Fier and company, which includes singers Syd Straw and Mathew Sweet, organist Bernie Worrell, and guitarists T-Bone Burnett and Don Dixon, experiment with confidence on songs like Lowell George's "I've Been the One," adding raga percussion to the C&W ballad. The rest of the album is filled with such musical daring and is a worthy addition for fans of both Palominos and the avant garde scene alike.

3 stars out of 5

Steve Kurutz (courtesy of All Music Guide website)

..................................................

Ok, so I love this album, but it's not really "a blast", as in 'great fun' or something like that. I just couldn't resist the predictable cheesy title intro. What this album is though is flat out very good.

I was happy to see the same sentiments expressed in the previous 5 user reviews here on Amazon. I've owned this album since the late 80's and I can tell you that it's still one of my favorites and it hasn't aged badly like some albums do. To me, it's their most consistent and best album, with 'Pure' probably being their next best, I think (I have about 5 of their albums, not including a 2cd compilation). I've seen a few "professional" reviews which rate this album more 'middle of the pack' compared to a few Palomino releases, but I think those reviewers are categorically incompetent. On the other hand, I was first turned on to this album by a rock critic. He listed this as his favorite album of the year back in '86, so there were a few smart reviewers out there, I suppose.

Scattered comments - Syd Straw really shines on this album. I've heard a couple of her other solo albums and her contributions on this album are still my favorite by far. 'Diamond' cracks me up. The irony of a woman singing a song written from a bitter/frustrated mans perspective (penned by The dB's) adds to it's allure for me. The book-end cover songs she performs on are probably my favorites of the whole album.

This album has one Matthew Sweet song, way before he became popular in his own right. I had no idea who he was at the time, I just knew that I liked the song. Other than the Straw songs & the Sweet song, I really like 'Strong Simple Silences' and 'Work Was New'. The remaining 2-3 others are still good, but I'm not quite sure those tracks would be very popular for the average listener, however, a few other user reviews rate those songs highly, so maybe I'm wrong (ex.: 'Something Else is Working Harder' sung by Jack Bruce).

In conclusion, you should own this album!

Greg (courtesy of the Amazon.com website)