Television

Performer: Television
Engineer: Mario Salvati
Producer: Television
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Television: Tom Verlaine (vocals, guitar); Fred Smith (guitar, bass, background vocals); Richard Lloyd (guitar); Billy Ficca (drums). Recorded at Acoustilog, New York, New York. Personnel: Fred Smith , Tom Verlaine (vocals, guitar); Richard Lloyd (guitar, slide guitar); Billy Ficca (drums). Audio Mixers: Fred Smith ; Mario Salvati; Tom Verlaine. Recording information: Acoustilog, New York, NY. 13 years after disbanding, Television reunited for this self-titled 1992 release. The band's sound is still built around Tom Verlaine's songs, in which his guitar and Richard Lloyd's entwine around one another like contrasting ribbons. Verlaine's vocals function like another element in the beautiful fray, bobbing up to the surface, then disappearing back into the sea. Lyric fragments are glimpsed rather than framed. This album sounds remarkably like this band's two previous studio works, MARQUEE MOON, from 1977 and ADVENTURE, from 1978. The album has a crisp sound throughout, as the denser passages have a layered clarity, and the more open passages revel in the warmth of longer notes.

Rolling Stone (10/29/92, p.70) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...celebrates the lost virtues of precision, and emotional depth and sonic elegance...rich in twang noir...orchestrated with impeccable clarity, sensual vigor and a gift for breathtaking understatement..." Spin (11/92, p.110) - Highly Recommended - "...a damned good, maybe even great, record...clean, cool, pointed, well-woven, and evocative...There are moments of thunderous bliss...It's great to have them back..." Entertainment Weekly (10/23/92, p.64) - "...no less edgy or atmospheric than their first two [albums]....songwriter-singer Verlaine's unique vision still comes through loud and clear..." - Rating: A Q (10/92, p.94) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a very, very fine album...these songs lean closer to the bare bones intensity of [Verlaine's solo] albums FLASH LIGHT (1987) and THE WONDER (1990), than the sparked-up fury of much of [Television's 1977 debut] MARQUEE MOON..." Village Voice (3/2/93, p.5) - Ranked #25 in the Village Voice's list of the 40 Best Albums Of 1992. Audio Magazine (11/92, p.118) - Sound: A - Performance: B+ - "...Although the band doesn't exactly pick up where it left off, TELEVISION is still clearly Television..."

Television came up in the 1970s among the first wave of New York punks (Ramones, Talking Heads, etc.), but their ambitious epics and stellar musicianship were far removed from the proletarian orientation of their CBGB's peers. The twin guitars of Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine made for a magical sound, further enhanced by Verlaine's poetic lyrics. Television broke up after two albums, but reunited long enough for a third in 1992, and have since staged sporadic reunion concerts.

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