•
Rating: 1996. Era dubbed "post-grunge." Almost at its end (the band's last album would be released two years later and would be the modest "1965"), the band led by the extraordinary Greg Dulli releases "Black Love", a very introspective album with a rather emblematic title ("Black Love," that dark, serious love, anything but sunny…). The atmospheres are very noir, dark, characterized by Dulli's simply unique voice that, depending on the story being told, screams, yells ("Going To Town", "My Enemy") or embraces lighter atmospheres with a much softer vocal tone (as in the very sweet "Step Into The Light" and in "Crime Scene Part One", which opens the album). There's little to nothing of grunge left; everything grunge was taken away by Kurt Cobain with a gunshot, it's pointless to deny it. In the eleven tracks present here, there are absolutely no catchy melodies, no choruses that immediately get stuck in your head. The music, yes, the music gets inside you from the first listen, makes you vibrate as the strings of the wonderful "Night By Candlelight" vibrate, fills you up like the initial keyboards of "Bulletproof" fill the sound, makes you feel emotions like "Faded", the perfect closing track. It's the "Closing Prayer" of this album. Remarkably high-quality pop rock. Emotions traveling inside at no speed limit for 8 long, endless minutes.
2005. Here we are today. December evening. Listening to the Afghan Whigs is like diving into a past almost ten years long. Engaging melodies. Acidic and incisive riffs. Hoarse and aching voice. Exceptionally simple drums that create soundscapes so delicate and so structurally perfect. Emotions that increase our regrets for the disappearance from the scene of this American band. None of their works engenders such emotion from the first to the last track as "Gentlemen". Perfection belongs only to God (or to "Gentlemen", take your pick). But here, believe me, we are on the high floors of Paradise.
"You can believe in me, baby
Can I believe in you?
What you don't know
Can hurt you, child
All the things a mind can
Do to you”
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 My Enemy (03:10)
(Dulli)
I hear the whispers, baby
If what they say is true
They say I killed the brother
To fall in love with u
These words I heard them once before
A conversation I believe
How does a man begin 2 fall
When he does practice 2 deceive?
There was a voice behind my back
His face I could not see it clear
The voice was so familiar, though
I knew my enemy was near
The sun iz gone
And the sky iz black
So get your ass out from
Behind my back
I told u once
And I told u all
And I told it like it was (sic)
U can't
Have me
If u can't
Catch me
Out of your mind bent on revenge
To think I once called u my friend
U want the dog? I'll let him out
Come and get some baby
03 Double Day (04:39)
(Dulli/McCollum)
It was a Saturday
I came home early drunk with love
And other things
I must confess I love it all
Pretend that I can hardly wait
To wipe that smile off of your face
It's only when
On that you can depend
Later that afternoon
My paranoia got the best of me
I knew it would, it always do
I made the call
Pretend that I can hardly wait
To put that smile back on my face
It's coming soon
I'm going to the moon
If you pretend, then I imitate
My friend, come crucify my heart
I wanna get it on
I wanna get it on
And in the evening when I sleep
My situation changes nightly
Sometimes it comes, sometimes it goes
Sometimes I feel I'll never know
Tonight's the night I take it home
White knuckle happy and alone
With no one in the room but me
I see I finally see
04 Blame, Etc. (04:11)
(Dulli)
My lust it ties me up
In chains
My skin catches fire at the
Mention of your name
No matter what I tried 2 do
I could not lose it
Now I know my heart
Is being used
But what I'm not allowed to have
I never could refuse
No matter what I tried 2 do
I stood accused
I reply, that I don't believe
I'm ever gonna die, I don't
Do u?
Blame, deny, betray, divide
A lie, the truth
Which one shall I use?
Whatcha gonna do?
I know
Whatcha gonna do?
I know, I know, I know
Your sanctimony
Is showing my dear
The acrimony
Hangs in the air
Beware of who u trust
In this world
Beware the lies about
2 unfurl
I reply, that I don't believe
I'm ever gonna die, I don't
Do u?
U were blind
But u are not alone in this
As I, was once
Like u
Blame, etc.
05 Step Into the Light (03:39)
(Dulli)
Whenever the light shines
And the stillness is shaken
And the drug of your smile has gone
And left me alone
I need it bad, I need it now
Won't you come and give me some?
I need it sweet, baby please
Won't you answer the phone?
Step into the light, baby
Just give me the word
And I will begin
Step into the light, baby
And see the trouble I'm in
The light has gone
My love has gone
The good times have gone
Away
I have to ask, I need to know
Was it ever love?
I need it sweet, baby please
Come and give me some
07 Honky's Ladder (04:16)
(Dulli)
Got u where I want u
Motherfucker
I got 5ive up on your dime
And if u wanna peep on something
Peep what I got stuck between
Your eyes
And since I don't believe
A word u say
Save it for another, baby brother
Swallow time 2 pay
Up on the ladder they sing
How high?
Does a brother have to climb
2 touch the light
But wait 'till I get done
With u
If u tell me
"Don't get mixed up with the Devil"
That's exactly
What I'm gonna do
Caught u while u waited
For your boy 2 come
And fix u up again
Come a little closer, baby
I only wanna try 2
Be your friend
Since I ain't got nothing
Left 2 lose
Got u where I want u
Motherfucker
Don't u try 2 move
Up on the ladder they sing
How high?
Does a brother have 2 climb
2 touch the light
Won't u take me up there
With u? U said u would
No one ever could shake
That ladder like I could
So I wait
11 Faded (08:25)
(Dulli)
You can believe in me, baby
Can I believe in you?
What you don't know
Can hurt you, child
All the things a mind can
Do to you
If I go bad
From time to time
Love to love but love is not
My only crime
Bathe the path, shine the light
Better get your ass up on
The mountain, baby
I'll take you up tonight
Faded
This I feel
Behind the blue clouds
I remain concealed
Lord, lift me out of the night
Come on, look down
And see the mess I'm in tonight
You can believe in me, baby
Can I believe in you?
I wish I could remember what
You said, when I said
Enough
You said
Good boy... bad boy... killjoy...
Get your ass over here, boy
And since I know
Myself so well
Don't breathe a word
Don't you ever tell
You can believe in me, baby
Can I believe in you?
That secret's gonna kill you
In the end
It's gonna kill
You
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By Sebastian82
"He has confirmed himself... an excellent interpreter of timeless torch songs, a perfect singer of that thin shadow line dividing day from night."
"The glories of the past might never be reached again, but the overall variety and undeniable value make it a more than dignified work."
