Demons Dance Alone

Artist: Residents
Label: East Side Digital
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 021561816725
EAN: 0021561816725
ASIN: B00006HICQ

Release Date: 2002-09-03

Demons Dance Alone

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Tracks:

I. Tongue
Life Would Be Wonderful
The Weatherman
Ghost Child
Caring
Honey Bear
The Car Thief
Neediness
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Thundering Skies
Mickey Macaroni
Betty's Body
My Brother Paul
Untitled
Baja
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Beekeeper's Daughter
Untitled
Wolverines
Untitled
Make Me Moo
Untitled
Untitled
II. Demons Dance Alone

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Customer Reviews:

Subtle and beautiful........2007-03-14

Very nice record.

But I don't understand why so many say this recording is about the 9/11 2001. Where in the lyrics does it refer to 9/11? Can someone please explain?

And, is Betty's Body about incest? It sounds like that.

The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship.......2003-12-21

This is the first disc that I ever heard from the Residents, and its power & poignancy hooked me. Since then I've developed an obsession with the formally dressed Eyes and their crazily eclectic & adventurous work.

If you're reading this, you are probably already a Residents listener. Obviously, in that case you have your own opinions. If you are new to the Residents, then I suggest you approach them by getting DDA, Petting Zoo (a budget sampler like Frank Zappa's Cheap Thrills series), or Eskimo (the Residents most well-known work).

Like most of their work, Demons Dance Alone is very satisfying & intriguing. Unlike most of their work, there is a (very small) chance in hell that a radio station would actually play some tracks off of it. Apparently the lyrics to Demons Dance Alone were inspired by 9/11/01. There is certainly a lot of sadness and thoughtfulness in songs like "Ghost Child", "Honey Bear", "Betty's Body", and "The Car Thief".

Of course this IS a Residents release, so some goofy weirdness is in order. This approach is most self-evident on "Mickey Macaroni" & "Make Me Moo" (both of which feature a child singing), the manic tempo increase on "Neediness", as well as a musical interlude of "Jingle Bells".

As far as musical textures are concerned, imagine combining Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians", Enya's voice, Captain Beefheart's rhythmic adventurousness, Kraftwerk's electronic approach, Devo's eccentricity, and a more subdued Tom Waites on vocals, then you would have an idea as to the originality and vitality of Demons Dance Alone. For sheer musical audacity and artistic integrity, the Residents are beyond reproach.

THE RESIDENTS-'Demons Dance Alone'(East Side Digital).......2003-12-14

It may be tough to classify The Residents music,but try experimental avant garde with elements of general quirkiness thrown in.The band has been at it since 1974,always being totally anonymous while rarely doing interviews and ALWAYS donning their trademark giant eyeball masks and a tux whenever playing live.Most of the tunes on 'Demons...'were penned since the day of the 9/ll tragedy.This CD may be a bit to 'out there' for some.As for myself,I tend to prefer the songs that feature a male's vocals,like "Life Would Be Wonderful","Caring",the somewhat sedate "Honey Bear","Neediness","Betty's Body",and "My Brother Paul".Some of the tunes that feature a female on lead vocals sounds a bit familiar.Call me insane,but check out "The Weatherman","Ghost Child",and "Car Thief" and tell me those cuts don't sound a lot like Syd Straw.Also was impressed with the instrumental "Thundering Skies".Call it mutated chamber music.Should appeal to fans of They Might Be Giants,Captain Beefheart,Devo and Be Bop Deluxe.

Exquisite! Not flawless, but inspiring and fresh........2003-01-03

In a nutshell, I'd agree with a previous reviewer in saying this is their best album in 20 years. To temper that judgement, I should admit that I've not been as fond of the Residents' output for some time. I'm definitely an old school Rez-head. And with that in mind, please don't expect another Commercial Album or Duck Stab. That period was a magical chemistry of people and ideas that could not nor should not ever be recreated. If you come to this album expecting the good old days of psychedelic dada wackiness, you'll be very disappointed. The Residents have matured beyond their years, added some new members and lots of new ideas, which need to be approached and analyzed on their own terms, in our own time. For example, this album was inspired and influenced in part by the 9/11/01 attacks. In my mind, this represents an enormous leap from the world of satire and fantasy to a timely, heavy political issue. It's not dealt with explicitly, but reflected opaquely in a series of vingettes which work as a song cycle. I say this because there are a number of repeated musical themes.. upon a first listen one might think they're only doing 3 or 4 songs in slightly different arrangements, but over the course of the album it cements the project together, not conceptually but materially.
One change to reckon with is their overall sound.. the guitar player and Molly Harvey have been with the group for some time now, and I've honestly had an undecided reaction to their inclusion till now, but with this project they have fully come into their own as creative participants. Some advocates of the new members would say that this is their "crossover album", that will finally propel them into the pop charts.. I don't see that happening anytime soon. Detractors say that the guitar is too "heavy metal" and strays from their original vision. Well, I happen to like the new sound. The guitar playing is not as zany as Snakefinger, but it's every bit as technically interesting, full of bite and original tone, and in the tradition of RZ guitar players, he nails the current RZ vibe spot-on, which is a melancholy, narcotic dirge, with a hint of hopeful reflection. The whole RZ sound right now is exceptionally bittersweet, and the newer members not only interpret this fully, but add their own unique metaphors to the mix. If you're with me so far, you should waste no time and get the two-disc special edition version of this disc. If RalphAmerica.com is sold out of them, you can settle for the single disc regular version. As a guy who generally only likes "the early stuff", I couldn't have been more surprised at the depth of my reaction to this modern masterpiece. Buy with informed confidence.

you never knew why i was blue so i went to a movie after you.......2003-01-02

The liner notes to Demons Dance Alone make some declarations about The Residents leaving their own band and being replaced, but obviously they're the same members. You can tell just by the old growly voiced singer. Reviews calling this the most accessible of Residents releases are completely correct. They followed the trend they've been following in the 90s, and that means less Muppet voices, more traditional song structures, and just generally a less frightening tone. On Demons Dance Alone, the Rez don't sound much like they did in the 70s. The music is dark and quirky instead of nightmarish. Kind of like They Might Be Giants at times. The lyrics are a lot more human. Anyone recall the totally out-there hallucinations on albums like Freak Show and the Mole Albums? It looks like they practiced with Wormwood by humanizing all the characters in the Bible, and now they're inventing their own characters to deal with such conventional topics as love, needs, and fears, something never dealt before, at least in a sensible way, on previous albums. Also, this is their first album in a long, long time that doesn't have a concept to it.

The album is divided up into three ignorable sections with various unimportant interludes. They don't really help the album at all. The proof is in the pudding, the straight pop songs this time. It starts with the synth-xylophone of "Mr. Wonderful" which has the singing Resident lamenting all the ways his life could be made wonderful. ("If I was a little taller / If I wasn't quite so old / If my raincoat had a collar / To help me keep away the cold") These are basic wants that anyone could have, but to hear a Resident sing them is a little strange. The song is gentle and lulls you into "The Weatherman," a strange little song that connects the movie Ivanhoe, meterology, and a relationship sung by Molly Harvey. The fiddle comes in on this one too. I should note that some other players come in to add some spice to the synths in the form of a trumpet and a fiddle.

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