Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen, We are Floating in Space
by Cila Warncke
published: 5 / 3 / 2002
Label:
Select Label
Format: N/A
intro
In the latest in our series, in which a different one of our writers writes about a favourite album of his or her choice,Cila Warncke examines Spiritualized's 1997 masterpiece 'Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space'
Like some kind of drugged-up, post-modern Virgil, Spiritualized front man Jason Pierce takes his audience on a pitch black, tragi-comic journey on their epic 1997 album, 'Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space'. Pierce weeps and storms his way through his own personal hell for seventy soul-searing minutes. Unsettling shouldn’t be the word to describe what this sounds like; and it isn’t. Rather, Spiritualized creates music as luscious, as monstrous, as egotistical as grief itself. Unashamedly epic, 'Ladies And Gentlemen…' harks back to a time when rock bands weren’t afraid of endless solos, massive orchestrations and wilful musical indulgence. The closest thing to a conventional radio-friendly tune is the anomalous 'Electricity' (which was still cut before its release as a single) which marks an uneasy boundary between the yearning sadness of the first half of the album and the defiant bitterness of the second. Eponymous opener 'Ladies And Gentlemen…', 'All Of My Thoughts', and 'Stay With Me' all ooze heart-rending ‘I’ll do anything to get you back’ desperation. “Don’t know what to do by myself / Cause all of my time was with you,” (All Of My Thoughts) Pierce sings, voice bubbling over with emotion so raw it’s almost debasing. There’s nothing more painful, or more transfixing, than someone who will do literally anything to win back their lover, and listening to Pierce teeter on the sharp edge of total self-abnegation is horror-flick-style peeking-between-your-fingers voyeuristic ecstasy. After the momentary respite of pop fantasy 'Electricity', the tone becomes less resigned, less measured. The bubble, it seems, has burst, and deep down he knows she’s never coming back. Any semblance of ‘coping’ disappears in paroxysms of rage, defiance, apathy and suicidal despair – and under a barrage of pharmaceuticals. “I don’t even miss you,” Pierce claims (Home Of The Brave) then admits in the next breath, “but that’s ‘cause I’m fucked up.” He injects quavering, fucked-up glamour into the image of having breakfast “right off of the mirror,” and embodies junkie bravado with, “I’m too busy to be dreaming of you / There a lot of things that I’ve gotta do.” Like all addicts – whether to love, heroin, or softer drugs – Pierce is, ultimately, selfish as Hell. Which is the guilty pleasure of Ladies And Gentlemen… because everyone falls into a black hole of solipsistic grief sometimes, and its nice to have something to listen to while you wait for the light at the end of the tunnel.
Track Listing:-
1 Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space2 Come Together
3 I Think I'm In Love
4 All Of My Thoughts
5 Stay With Me
6 Electricity
7 Home Of The Brave
8 The Individual
9 Broken Heart
10 No God Only Religion
11 Cool Waves
12 Cop Shoot Cop…
Band Links:-
https://www.facebook.com/spiritualizedofficial/https://twitter.com/officialspzd
Picture Gallery:-
interviews |
Interview with Jason Pierce (2004) |
Backstage at a gig in Exeter, Spiritualized frontman Jason Pierce talks to Ben Howarth about the band's latest album 'Amazing Grace' and the group's current hard touring schedule |
live reviews |
Royal Festival Hall, London, 1/8/2004 |
In the luxurious surroundings of London's Royal Festival Hall, Dominic Simpson watches Spiritualized play a frequently spellbinding set, but is left wondering, after 20 years of perfecting his vision, where frontman Jason Pierce might go next |
Lemon Grove, Exeter University, Exeter, 3/2/2004 |
soundcloud
reviews |
Sweet Heart, Sweet Light (2012) |
Self-indulgent and over-intense latest album from psychedelic rockers, Spiritualized |
Songs in A & E (2008) |
Amazing Grace (2003) |
most viewed articles
current edition
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #15- On Being Dignified and Old aka Ten Tips From Jah Wobble On How To Be Happy.The Church - Interview with Steve Kilbey
Simon Heavisides - Destiny Stopped Screaming: The Life and Times of Adrian Borland
Secret Shine - Interview
Vetchinsky Settings - Interview
Repomen - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Flaming Stars - Interview
Near Jazz Experience - Interview
Jack Roscoe - Interview
Sami Sumner - Interview
previous editions
Heavenly - P.U.N.K. Girl EPDwina Gibb - Interview
Trudie Myerscough-Harris - Interview
Oasis - Oasis, Earl's Court, London, 1995
Joy Division - The Image That Made Me Weep
Joy Division - The Image That Made Me Weep
Jimmy Nail - Interview
Beautiful South - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Allan Clarke - Interview
Barrie Barlow - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Kula Shaker - Natural MagickIan Hunter - Defiance Part 2: Fiction
Lewis 'Burner' Pugh - Bullets for Bread
Hillbilly Moon Explosion - Back in Time
Inutili - A Love Supreme
My Life Story - Loving You is Killing Me
David Cross Band - Ice Blue Silver Sky
Smalltown Tigers - Crush On You
Beyonce - Cowboy Carter
Ty Segall - Three Bells
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart