Green on Red
Scapegoats

I just read and commented on the review of Naked Prey by the "comrade" (and notorious troublemaker of the site) Pinhead; I searched on Debaser for some pages dedicated to Green on Red, a band mentioned by good old Pinello in his writing, and I realize, with great regret, that they are almost entirely ignored. Apart from a very old review of their debut album "Gravity Talks."

We must get to work, dear De...Marga...and remedy the situation immediately.

My choice falls on the album "Scapegoats" released in 1991; with an exceedingly bizarre and ghostly cover that reminds me of my beloved Death Metal.

But the affinities with musical extremism end here (surely many sighs of relief from many); we are faced with a work that overflows, in every single track, with Country music and American Sound. I right away say that it doesn't reach the heights of some previous works, but it is a more than valid auditory compendium for those who want to start getting to know the band originating from Tucson, Arizona. The same provenance as the previously mentioned Naked Prey.

Thoroughbreds Dan Stuart and Chuck Prophet are always securely at the reins of an album that flows by with disenchantment, with absolute pleasure. Ten tracks lasting not even forty minutes. They are helped by Al Kooper's organ, also in production, which is clearly heard in all the songs. There's even a touching harmonica, played by Tony Joe White, which meticulously and classily refines the ballad with a nocturnal gait "Two Lovers (Waitin' to Die)."

"A Guy Like Me" has the honor of opening the journey across the infinite American plains, with Al's trusty Hammond setting the right pace for the other instruments; followed by the delicacy of "Little Things in Life": acoustic guitar and vocals that closely resemble the Neil Young of Harvest. "Gold in the Graveyard" is one of the rare and effective electric moments; dominated by sweaty electric guitars that this time shift the sound towards the Rolling Stones.

A frontier album, of borders, of immense spaces, of desert; which concludes with the wonderful notes of "Baby Loves Her Gun." Simply one of the most beautiful ballads ever written by Green on Red.

Justice is served.

Ad Maiora.