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Rating: In the history of rock, there aren’t many artists who can adorn their music with the title of "undefinable." The reason for this is evident. To create something new requires vision, a "timeless" spirit, and a touch of genius which are the prerogatives of a few. These artists not only reach incredible heights but also perform a true miracle: they render language powerless.
From its origins, mankind has sought an expressive code, becoming increasingly "precise," which would allow communication. Today’s man, especially the western one, has become so accustomed to these communication rules that he cannot conceive any other form of expression. However, he has "forgotten" that his nature is first and foremost made of sensitivity and instinct. And so, when he has to decipher a message not related to language capabilities, he goes into crisis because he has to "re-coordinate" his cognitive scheme, anesthetized by habit and inertia. Now it is clear why the term "miraculous" is really appropriate. Because it’s not easy to slip out of the meshes of the linguistic code, and when a form of art manages to do this, it forces man to revert to his "primordiality."
But if I want to describe something to you, I must use language, because it's the only "means" I have at this moment to convey my feelings. Well, this is a challenge, and I will have to face this challenge. Or, if you prefer English, "This Heat".
They were one of the many bands of the English new wave, with a background dating back to when this term was not even in existence. Charles Hayward, Charles Bullen, and Gareth Williams decided to put their skills at the service of this project in 1975. After two EPs and a self-titled debut album, they released (well, so to speak...) this record in 1981.
It begins with a whistle that serves as an intro to a semi-tribal drum, tainted by a deliberately low-fi studio effect, meanwhile, a delicate baritone voice intones an industrial lullaby.
You know a question mark? Well, the first minimalistic guitar-soaked seconds of "Paper Heart" resemble just that; later, a choir of the mentally ill arrives to "sing" a psalm in an anemic tone. Everything seems to settle, but instead, an explosion of free-jazz tears apart this leaden sky, which darkens again thanks to an obsessive bass groove.
Evidently, some children must have entered the instrument room and are playing. One of them plays the clarinet, and it’s not even out of tune, thankfully one hears the voice of an adult, actually two, but what's going on? Instead of scolding, they accompany them in song, and they even give it a title: "Triumph".
The driving drums and epic guitar of "S.P.Q.R." seem like the schizophrenic version of "Pride" by U2.
It looks like "Cenotaph" is even "catchy," with its guitar sparks and lazy rhythm. Practically post-rock brought back to the times when it was still called rock, or new-wave, your call.
This time the psychopaths enter a nightclub and wander dangerously through African tribalism, so trendy among today’s house contaminations.
"Radio Prague" is a nervous tic that plays and tries to tune into the news broadcast. Period.
The Teutonic atmosphere of "Makeshift Swahili" brings progressive into the industrial era, grinding it in an exhausting sound vortex that gets lost in a supersonic black hole.
The idea of setting an industrial belly dance to music could only have come to them, it may seem a paradox, but I assure you that "Independence" sounds just like that.
And here we are at "A New Kind Of Water", which the three have wisely placed as the concluding track. For what reason? Because it is the one closest to the traditional concept of "song," but it does so in its own way. Practically it’s like a mirage, it seems what it is not, so it can be considered the masterpiece within the masterpiece.
Through more conventional sounds, in fact, This Heat create something unconventional. The requiem of an entire civilization. Of our civilization. A drum that shoots gunshots to the face of that mask of waste that mockingly smiles on the cover. We all wore that mask, even just for a moment, and that terrifying guitar is nothing but the sound of our lies. And the track we are talking about is nothing less than one of the most "revolutionary" in the history of rock.
I tried to face the challenge, but I came out defeated.
But I am happy to have lost to the work of beauty.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Paper Hats (06:02)
well, what do we expect
paper hats?
or maybe even roses?
the sound of explosions?
oh no, is this any easier?
comfy? climax? ego?
decorations up or down?
the sound of explosions
what does this tune signify?
what is its meaning?
is it really that straight forward?
or are our ears beyond words?
03 Triumph (02:55)
through dirty net curtains you look at me
why is it i can't see through to you?
the mesh it is in your favour
(under my steady gaze)
how will you move
(frozen mid-step)
when the angles are reversed?
(you cannot move)
triumph of the will
triumph of the will
04 S.P.Q.R. (03:28)
Amo amas amat amamis amatis amant
We are all romans, unconscious collective
We are all romans, we live to regret it
We are all romans and we know all
About straight roads
Every straight road leads home,
Home to rome
2 + 2 = 4
4 + 4 = 8
We organise via property as power
Slavehood and freedom imperial purple
Pax romana!
Suckled by a she wolf,
We turn against our brother
Bella bella bella bellorum bellis bellis
Veni vidi vici i came i saw i conquered
We are all romans, unconscious collective
We are all romans, we live to regret it
We are all romans and we know all
About straight roads
Every straight road leads home,
Home to rome
2 + 2 = 4
4 + 4 = 8
We organise via property as power
Slavehood and freedom imperial purple
Pax romana!
Suckled by a she wolf,
We turn against our brother
Bella bella bella bellorum bellis bellis
Veni vidi vici i came i saw i conquered
We are all romans
05 Cenotaph (04:41)
history repeats itself
remembrance sunday,
a war to end all wars.
and the war that came after that,
to keep freedom's flag flying
lest we forget
the glorious dead,
poppy day, remember poppies are red
and the fields are full of poppies
history repeats itself
and when the lights go on again
all over the world,
and when the boys come home again,
all over the world
rain and snow will be all that fall,
from out of the sky
a kiss won't mean goodbye,
when johnny comes marching home
06 Shrink Wrap (01:40)
shrinkwrap, you lie, you lie, you lie
wolf in sheep's clothing
enshrine our latest product
define the hollow spaces
mobilised cellophane
untouched by human hand
don't look a gift horse in the mouth
don't bite the hand that feeds you
you can have your cake and eat it
it's an expanding universe
08 Makeshift Swahili (04:04)
makeshift she sings in her native german,
you try to understand what she's trying to say
she says "you're only as good as the word you understand"
and you, you don't understand a word
tower of babel, swahili, it's all greek to me
bilingual, double dutch, gift of the gab
we give you firewater you give us your land.
"white man speak with forked tongue",
but it's too late now to start complaining,
too late
monosyllabic, hieroglyphic, et cetera, et cetera
new lamps for old
new lamps for old
rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb
rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb
10 A New Kind of Water (04:57)
eat, drink and be merry
for tomorrow we did
eat electricity
drink five of the seven seas
here is a paralyzed sleet
here is a bubble bath rain
acrid stench and festering tongue
new york, moscow, nairobi in flames
i don't know either, what is the answer?
we were told to expect more
and now that we've got more
we want more, we want more
we have moved from a to x
this welfare state is our progress
the size of it all carries us all along
more equals better, it's what we want
our energy is endless it seems
it's there when we need it
we've got men on the job
we finance clinics to research
a cure for cancer, our least vague fear
a new kind of water
a new way of breathing
always somehow a wonder cure all
turns up when we need it
we've got men on the job
you know from experience
the creature comforts, a house that's warm
your body would choose all this
of course! it's innate we're selfish
but what if there's not enough to go round?
defence is needed
we've got some odd men in odd jobs
we have moved from a to z
this nuclear state is our demise
fly away peter, hide away paul
who can watch as the earth burns, shatters and dies?
failsafe, foolproof, we've heard that before
good sense is needed
let's hope we've got men on the job
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