Sequences Of Records

(Mmmh, I know I'll get beaten, but I am old enough to take it.)

There always is the Red Grey and Black Cure trilogy... Which I still find remarkable after all these years, even without the petty teen angst to fuel my appreciation of Fatty Bob's words and music... Growing paranoia on "17 seconds", leading to suicidal depression ("Faith"), then ultimately murderous mania ("Pornography").

We should not limit ourselves to trilogies, I reckon, but, it is the first one that popped to mind. More later, maybe.

Coil's solstice series of EPs had a concept and packaging so excellent it made their recent output momentarily interesting, quite a feat. World Serpent artists are good at gimmickry, cf. also the fictional Bar Maldoror.

But of course the most successful is the Maggot/Bootlicker/Crybaby trilogy by the Melvins.

Some bands take the 'Sequence of Records' idea to it's logical extreme. Case in point: Magma.

Magma is a French progrock concept band whose first six albums explain the origins and development of a new civilization on the planet Kobaia, and their interactions with the people of Earth and other planets. All of their lyrics are sung in the language of the new civilization, `Kobaian.' It essentially sounds like a caricature of German, with some French and random syllables mixed in.

Their music? Started out in the early 70s as noisy, ugly horn-based fusion, before morphing into weird horn-led marching music (think Vader's theme from Star Wars) with operatic, martial chanting, then piano-led Coltrane-style jazz (with the chanting intact), then funk- and-disco-influenced violin-led fusion (with, you guessed it, occasional chanting). Last I heard they had reformed and gone on a reunion tour, to the delight of their tiny cadre of hardcore fans.

Another note of interest: I've heard that Radiohead's "Everything In It's Right Place" is _very_ similar (like plagiaristic similar) to a section from Magma's "Theusz Haamtahk." I haven't heard "Theusz," so I can't confirm it. I've been trying to download the song from Napster, we'll see...

Fucking Magma. Not only are they responsible for turning the Ruins into shit, but now you tell me we have them to blame for Radiohead. And they sound so fuggin' amazing in theory...

Actually Bowie's Berlin trilogy is genius ;) But another good sequence of course is the Autobahn - Radio Activity - Trans Europe Express - Man Machine - Computerworld series by Kraftwerk. Amazing music about motion, speed, technology, knowledge, the modern world, etc.

The Only Ones/Even Serpents Shine/Baby's Got a Gun all explore Peter Perret's descent into addiction and exclusion pretty comprehensively.

In The Kinks albums from 'Face to Face' through to 'Muswell Hillbillies' Ray returns to a number of themes over and over. (Post- war Britain, family, fame, North London, ambition, working-class roots, the end of the Empire etc etc....)

I read the Uncut piece yesterday which prompted me to get out the Bowie 'Berlin' albums. As a slightly related aside, has there ever been a more bizarre and unbalanced track sequence than that of 'Lodger'? The four clunkers (Fantastic Voyage/African Night Flight/Move On/ Yassasin) are sequenced as tracks 1-4. Track 5 (Red Sails) is OK. THEN the rest of the albm (DJ/Look Back In Anger/Boys Keep Swinging/Repetition/Red Money) is fantastic. (As is 'I Pray, Ole on the 1991 CD re-issue). Anyone else agree?

at the risk of turning this into a Bowie thread, i found that by turnign the bonus track version of Young Americans around a bit it can be made into the best record ever. Faame/Win/Fascination/Somebody Up There Likes Me/Who Can I Be Now/Can You Hear Me/Young Americans/It's Gonna Be Me. And, not an intentional sequence but i was entirely impressed by moving from the straight ironice soul (note: he never made as muhc fun of soul as of rock, did he? except maybe how he wraps up American Malaise in romantic cliché on 'young americans') with more pointed reappropriations on 'station to station', which is the actual best record ever.

oh, and haven't done full research yet due to no money, and no napster, but Eno's progression from semi-ambient on 'another green world' to the entirely ambient on stuff like 'discreet music'

Sonic Youth - Evol, Sister, Daydream Nation

Can - Future Days, Soon Over Babaluma, Landed

Simple Minds - Reel To Real Cacophony, Empires & Dance, Sons & Fascination

Depeche Mode - Construction Time Again, Some Great Reward, Black Celebration

None of these are official trilogies, but they all seem to have a sustained consistency and singularity of purpose absent from the remaining work of each band.

re: Lodger, I agree, though through the years I've become somewhat fond of those 4 'weak' tracks, 'Red Sails' always was a blast. Of course I've got to bring Royal Trux into this thread. Probably the band with the most sequences running through their albums (often simultanious). I can't remember them all, but you have the addiction sequence (first 3 albums), the city trilogy (I think it went New York, San Fransisco, Washington - also on those albums), then you have the decade trilogy: "Thank You" (60s), "Sweet 16" (70s), "Accelerator" (80s). The last two records also seem part of a new trilogy since they seque into each other. There's more, Hagerty once explained it in a essay on their website.

Elfpower - vainly clutching at phantom limbs, when the red king comes, a dream in sound, the winter is coming...they are thematic. I think the Music Tapes will probally produce a good trilogy one day.

Another brilliant sequence: "Mwadishi", "Crossings" and "Sextant" by Herbie Hancock. Beautiful electronic funk jazz from outer space.

it seems like jazz musicians are more prone to this, so I'll have to say:

miles davis - get up with it, on the corner, and big fun

oh, and being a fan, I'd have to say the ultra-Britpop of Blur's Modern Life, Parklife, and Great Escape.

Very interesting question. Do the sequences have to be *deliberate*? I'm not sure that the Only Ones set is *meant* to be a 'sequence', as against '3 records that came out one after the other'. So, is 'intention' an issue?

Otherwise, is it just what we happen to hear as a sequence? I think of Bringing-Highway-Blonde as a sequence; but I don't know that Dylan did.

I think that the Blur trilogy just mentioned *was* intentional, pretty much - and is one of the outstanding examples of recent years (even if you don't actually like the music).

Pinefox, you're probably right about the Only Ones - there was no intended conceptual link between them. It's just that as a trio of albums the same themes - drugs mainly - develop over the three, and there are many links between songs on each of them. Perret's loathing for the 'straight life' grows in proportion to his own self-loathing. As the habit gets bigger, the choices get less. Bleak.

The first three Wire albums - yawn, yes I know, very predictable, but there you go . . .

Yes, but what about the first three Wire albums in reverse order? Now there's an interesting progression. And one must not forget the mytho-poetic system of the Insane Clown Posse whose sixth album was supposed to signal the end of the world. Not that I listen to them or anything, but I think that's pretty cool. Randy Newman -- 12 Songs, Sail Away, Good Old Boys -- each more pretty and bitter than the last.

The KLF - "What Time Is Love?";"3AM Eternal";"Last Train To Transcentral" - the Stadium House trilogy. Awesome.