Morphine provide one last thrill ride for fans
By JOE LARSON
Scene Music Critic
Every once in a while, a band comes along with a sound that is truly original. They don't just add on to something that has been done already, or simply duplicate something old that everyone has forgotten about. These bands are true innovators, so much so that they cannot even be copied.
Morphine was one of these bands. Formed in Cambridge, Mass. in 1992, Morphine blends the speed and moodiness of punk with the smoothness of jazz and blues into a conglomeration that can never be imitated. The band consisted of Billy Conway on drums, the late Mark Sandman on lead vocals and a 2-string slide bass, and Dana Colley on an array of saxophones.
The group thrived in the local music scene in Cambridge, and accumulated a large underground following after their first release, Good. Their second release, Cure for Pain, sold over 300,000 copies worldwide and Rolling Stone called them "1994's greatest underground success." They followed up Cure for Pain with two more albums, "Yes" and "Like Swimming." Unfortunately, in 1999, Mark Sandman died of a heart attack onstage in Italy. After Sandman's death, Morphine's final studio recordings were released on the album entitled The Night.
Bootleg Detroit is an actual bootleg recording by a fan of Morphine's show in Detroit, Mich. on March 7, 1994.
It is a great collection of Morphine's earliest work, encompassing both quick-paced rockers and slow, moody laments. Most of the songs on this album tell stories about particular characters, mostly women, and their strange behavior and relationship to the storyteller. Sandman treated his concerts as a journey through his songs, where we first meet "Mary," then stop over to visit "Sheila," on our way to see "Claire."
Sandman's lyrics are sly and clever, accompaning Colley's booming saxophone riffs perfectly. The thundering bass of Sandman, furious sax solos and Conway's jazz drumming make this one of the most interesting live albums's to have been released in awhile.
The highlights of this album are the bass-driven songs "Mary," "Thursday" and "Buena," in which Colley's sax work is the most prominantly displayed. Other highlights include the strange "Head With Wings," and the bitter "Claire."
The singular best song on the album is definitely "Cure for Pain," in which the lyrics of the song cry, "Someday there'll be a cure for pain, that's the day I throw my drugs away." In this song, Sandman sums up the drug-user's mentality better than Oliver Stone ever could.
Bootleg Detroit is truly a amazing album. The music breathes fresh air into rock music, and the lyrics complement the moody, dark swing perfectly.
Morphine takes jazz, adds the blues and a dash of punk, and then gives it the attitude of a Humphrey Bogart character. It is a grizzled, mysterious sound that cannot be compared to anything that has come before.
The live setting of Bootleg Detroit simply enhances the magic of this sound, making it resonate with the attitude and feeling that only this mixture could provide. In an industry that is constantly churning out done and redone, unoriginal blandness, Morphine captured real energy and originality.
Maybe they did find the cure for pain.
All Scene Stories for Tuesday, October 24, 2000
