Tom Verlaine died yesterday.
Marquee Moon is one of those albums that’s been with me for over forty years, and been revisited frequently in that time, so this is a sad listen.
See No Evil is a reasonable song, but it’s not until Venus that the power of Television’s debut kicks in, with Verlaine’s trademark guitar sound powering through his angst ridden vocals. And that combination of sneering (dare I say, punk?) vocals with dexterous guitar work that enhances without ever staying into showing off continues in the marvellous Friction. But the highlight of the album is the title track, Marquee Moon, the essence of Television and Verlaine distilled into ten minutes. Understandably, we move down a notch, starting the second half with the lovely Elevation and Guiding Light. Prove It is strong, but I find Torn Curtain a weak ending to a great album.
4* - a great album, which peaks so high with the title track that it’s difficult to follow in the second half. RIP Tom.
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