| I love it. It's a great album, one of the most underrated guitar albums of all time. A lot of reviews I've read about it talk about how it abolished groove, but I think that's really off base. It certain has a different groove from typical blues- and R&B-based American rock as it existed at the time, it has a more jazz-based feel, but there's also a sort of early-blues thing going on with the bass and drums (Billy Ficca and Fred Smith are a great ryhthm section) in certain passages. It's much more herky-jerky than anything that had come before. But that was what made it so incredible, that they could create such angular sounding parts that, individually, go off in completely different directions but they all make sense. I think "Friction" has the best chromatic run in rock history.
Personal anecdote: Marquee Moon was my "emo album" for a period. I listened to it right after I was dumped by this girl in a real bad way. I felt like a big pile of crap, and I spent pretty much the whole time listening to Marquee Moon, in particular, the song "Venus". That song has this great feeling of "well, that really sucked, I got played. But **** it, I don't feel low." That was exactly what I needed to hear at the time. And even though I still associate it with a pretty emotional (if I can be sentimental and self-absorbed for a moment here) time in my life, it doesn't bring back any bad memories. It's a great kiss-off and get better album, Tom Verlaine has this great indignant, contemptuous vocal delivery while still sounding very cool and smart. I highly reccommend it.
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Ameeeeeericaaaaaaaa/Eatin' my lunch from a single bowl/In my paaaaaarents basssssement/Where I'm livin'/Happy Birthday!/I'm 43.
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