So what happened? Did fellow Jersey-ite Tony Soprano have a sit-down with The Feelies? Did they listen to Springsteen’s Nebraska one too many times? Maybe they got on The Grateful Dead’s touring bus, and never left.
After The Feelies’ remarkable 1980 debut, Crazy Rhythms, they waited six years to release their follow-up, The Good Earth. Sophomore slump doesn’t really explain it, as they had only been together four years before they recorded Crazy Rhythms.
The length of time isn’t really the issue though. It is as if the over-caffeinated Wire meets Television jingle jangle of Crazy Rhythms never even happened. The Good Earth is by no means a bad record, but it certainly sounds as if it were made by a different band.
And in some ways it was. Drum legend Anton Fier and bassist Keith DeNunzio had departed, and were replaced with three new members. Only the twin-guitar core of Bill Million and Glenn Mercer remained intact. And for that we can be thankful, because it is the guitars that save The Good Earth from the dreaded “REM effect” (Peter Buck produced it).
Right off the bat, with the acoustic strumming of “On The Roof,” The Feelies let you know that it is no longer 1980. There were so many bands doing this type of music in 1986, it was ridiculous. Call it roots music, alt-country, no depression, whatever. Eventually some good stuff emerged from the genre, but really — The Feelies as Depression-era hobos? Give me a break.
The only track that recalls their herky-jerky heyday is “Slipping (Into Something)” and it almost single-handedly saves The Good Earth. Opening with a quietly strumming guitar, and slowly building towards it’s inevitable crescendo, “Slipping (Into Something)” is a remarkable song.
To be fair, if The Good Earth had been released by anyone but The Feelies in 1986, I probably would have nothing but praise for it. There are some great songs here, particularly the country-tinged “Tomorrow Today,” and “The Last Roundup.”
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Article comments
1 - El Bicho
interesting that they would make such a dramatic turn from their debut. trying to think who followed suit. likely hard to keep fans, but sometimes an artist's heart wants what it wants.
2 - zingzing
if one wants to talk about dramatic turns, one would do well to consider one david bowie... spaced-out folky to hard rock art crap to pop maestro to glam rock queen to... slightly harder-rocking glammed-out queen... to paranoid delusional glam-soul-disco-funk thing to blue eyed soul to krautsoul (i made that up) to new wave space adventurer to world music talking head to phlegm sloughing rock god to iggy-baiting pop guru to crap, crap, crap... well, he made a career out of pulling this kind of shit.
all that said, i need to get the rest of the feelies stuff.
3 - Greg Barbrick
Bicho,
I have a hard time with it, to be honest. Not sure if I was really hoping for Crazy Rhythms 2 or not. But after 6 years, I did expect something more, shall we say, aventurous than The Good Earth.
You are correct that sometimes the heart just wants what it wants.
Thank goodness there were no lyrics about fluoridation--
Greg
4 - Greg Barbrick
zing,
I like the term "krautsoul" good one there. Bowie certainly pulled off some amazing turns. I guess the difference for me was that you always knew that he was an artist, trying on different roles.
With The Feelies, I could never really make that jump. Probably to my detriment. Saying I hate The Good Earth is going much too far. But if I put Crazy Rhythms at a 10, The Good Earth honestly comes in at about a 6.