Anno 1996.
I Nevermore si apprestano a pubblicare il loro secondo full-lenght: The Politics of Ecstasy. La classica formazione del combo di Seattle viene completata con l'ingresso di Pat O'Brien, chitarrista tecnico e versatile. Il solo artwork è agghiacciante: la copertina raffigura un neonato che brucia tra le fiamme, con la scritta "Controlled" stampata sulla fronte.
Una nota di merito va alla produzione, affidata alle mani esperte di Neil Kernon. Il suono è maledettamente potente e compatto: solo i primi quattro accordi bastano a stenderti. Inizia così "The Seven Tongues Of God", la song di apertura. Sono pochi accordi che spiazzano, preludio di una tempesta sonora di notevoli proporzioni. La voce di Warrel Dane ammalia, trasportandoci nel suo mondo visionario e lisergico. "The Seven. . . " è di grande impatto, un mid-tempo potentissimo che sfocia in un ritornello maligno, con la voce di Dane che si sdoppia e si ricompone, quasi fosse una sirena. Pezzo stupendo.
Il cd prosegue restando sullo stesso livello qualitativo: "Next in Line" ha un tiro incredibile, "The Passenger" è invece caratterizzata da un andamento lento e drammatico, con un Warrel Dane teatrale come non mai.
La title-track ti travolge come un carro armato in corsa, con continui cambi di ritmo. Qui va sottolineato l'ottimo lavoro di Van Williams, batterista dalle grande doti, spesso sottovalutato.
È la volta di "Lost", in cui Dane ci dona una grande prova, si a livello di linee vocali (stupende) che di lyrics.
Il capolavoro arriva alla traccia 7: "The Tiananmen Man". La traccia è un perfetto connubio tra musica e testo. Un riff notevole ci catapulta in un pezzo di storia descritta e interpretata Dane: si parla infatti dell'omino che solitamente vediamo solo in foto, mentre affronta un carro armato con la sua valigetta, nella piazza di Tiananmen (1989). Il testo è veramente intelligente, non limitandosi a descrivere il fatto, ma anche le emozioni e le intenzioni di quell'uomo solo contro un potere più grande di lui.
Lungo tutta la durata dell'album la cosa che fa rimanere a bocca aperta è la velocità di esecuzione delle due chitarre. Jeff Loomis (chitarrista e mente del gruppo) è un mostro. Sciorina con estrema facilità e precisione accordi in sedicesimi e trentaduesimi (!!!), ogni nota è al suo posto, ogni accordo ben definito; Jeff riesce sempre a creare un muro sonoro di notevoli proporzioni.
"The Learning" (stupenda, inutile dirlo) chiude definitivamente il secondo capitolo dei Nevermore.
Per concludere, è forse il cd più difficile dei Nevermore, di sicuro il più sottovalutato dal pubblico, eppure rimane un capolavoro, probabilmente Il loro Capolavoro. Infine, citando "Lost": "WHY SHOULD I COME DOWN?! FROM HERE I CAN SEE FOREVER!"nell'Olimpo, i Nevermore ci restano.
Elenco tracce testi e video
02 This Sacrament (05:09)
There is no control in the world today
And there's still no order to this game we all play
Maybe none of us know
(What's real)
There's no constraint when the walls cave in
The neuron turn on, the game begins to fade away
Maybe none of us know
Maybe none of us want to hear
Never push against the flow
Aimlessly
Feel the flow
And let all thought fade
We shall be one
For this sacrament has begun
Lucy in the sky with diamond eyes
long since dark, I wear her disguise of light
Maybe none of us know
Maybe none of us want to hear
Never push against the flow
Aimlessly
Feel the flow
And let all thought fade
We shall be one
For this sacrament has begun
[SOLO]
(This sacrament is a state of mind)
There's no control in the world today
And there's still no order to this game we all play called life
Maybe none of us know
Maybe none of us want to hear
Never push against the flow
Aimlessly
Feel the flow
And let all thought fade
We shall be one
Through this sacrament
Feel the flow
(To become one with the flow)
And let all thought fade
(Is to realise purpose)
We shall be one
(To realise purpose)
For this sacrament has begun
(Is to become one with the flow)
(Become one with the flow)
This sacrament has begun
(Become one with the flow)
This sacrament
(Has begun)
03 Next in Line (05:33)
I taste the fear to numb the tear, trapped by the source of my infection
I play the martyr submerged in this pool,
the corporation used me like they brainwashed you
Life is seen so cold and benign,
I don't want to be saved I'm next in line to die
Labeled sick, but I'm just a man, everyone I love has left me for dead
This void illusion I suffer for, they made me their god
and I am so much more than you
Life is seen so cold and benign, I don't want to be saved
I'm next in line to die
I don't want to be saved I'm next in line
I taste the fear to numb the tear, trapped by the source of my infection
Life is seen through heroin dreaming cold and benign,
I don't want to be saved I'm next in line to die
I don't want to be saved I'm next in line and I don't want to be saved
I'm a dead man, I'm a sick man, I'm the pilot of my destruction
I'm a dead man, I'm a sick man, I'm the pilot of my destruction
The pilot of my destruction
05 The Politics of Ecstasy (07:56)
I hate you, the pigs who turn the screws, I hate everything you stand for
I hate the world we've bred, political pigs we've fed, our fathers left us nothing but a dead world
Beyond repair down in despair, our fathers left us nothing
Choking on the influx of technology I realize the politics of ecstasy
And we can't change what's in stone
We've been had. Injustice to the masses, destroy the land and crush the poor
The pigs are fueled by greed, political ways obscene, our fathers left corruption in this dead world
Beyond repair down is despair, our fathers left us nothing
Choking on the puke of their industry, regurgitated propaganda ministry
Freedom's never free, the politics of ecstasy are these:
Freedom's never free, these are the politics of ecstasy:
I hate you , the pigs who turn the screws, I hate everything you stand for
I hate the world we've bred, political pigs we've fed, our fathers left us nothing but a dead world
Beyond repair down in despair, our fathers left us nothing
Choking on the influx of technology I realize the politics of ecstasy
Freedom's never free, the politics of ecstasy are these:
Freedom's never free, the politics of ecstasy are these:
If you take a step back and you realize your home can't be a perfect world
There's still hope the hate you fell will fade, injustice is gone:
Injustice is gone for a little while
06 Lost (04:14)
Learning ways to fly
just never too high to die
pushing limits into the ground
Until I never come down
Burning through lifetimes without form
pure energy I am the shattered norm
I'm the lost one chasing colors to the sun
colors bleed but never fade
I'll just fade away
To swim these sentient seas
windows into eternity
never afraid to scale the wall
The lunatic never falls
Forfeiture of reality seeds sown
constructure of this path is not my own
I'm the lost one chasing colors to the sun
colors bleed but never fade
I'll just fade away
Why should I come down?
From here I can see forever
I'm the lost one chasing colors to the sun
colors bleed but never fade
I'll just fade away
Remember in the end
such a long strange trip it's been
so I sing this song
For the lost one
Why should I come down?
From here I can see forever
forever
I can see forever
I can see
09 42147 (04:58)
I am throes of my denial
logic in me crumbles
i take this fateful ride
Through my mind
Daydream fluid thoughts washing shores of warm confusion
I'm one with this beautiful disorder
Another world, wasthis the transition?
Slowly I returned to the familiar
spiralling in costant flux
What have I created?
The experiment is over
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