GLENN BRANCA "THE ASCENSION"
1981, 99 Records
- "Lesson #2" (5:01)
- "The Spectacular Commodity" (12:41)
- "Structure" (3:06)
- "Light Field (In Consonance)" (8:19)
- "The Ascension" (13:10)
The point of these "classic albums" threads I do is because I want to highlight some overlooked albums; albums that usually aren't on best-of lists or albums that we don't talk about too much on here. I try not to be TOO obscure, because I want people on here to discuss the albums with me. So, with that, I am now going to talk a bit about an album probably 90% of this board has heard and probably 75% knows extremely well -- an album that honestly probably should be on every "best records of all time" list but I don't think it ever has been. An album that.. yeah.. is probably one of the few that can be called "life-changing". Eh?
The Ascension is amazing. Let me reiterate: This album is AMAZING. When you actually pay attention to what's happening here... the structure, the flow, the atmosphere, it's truely amazing. I can't think of a better way to justify that statement than to say that I'm rarely "amazed" and I rarely say "amazing" and I rarely call people a "genius" since that's a word thrown around too much. But, indeed, Branca proves with this album that he is a genius and this album is fucking unbelievable. Taking the basic fundamentals of no wave and classical music and combining them, Branca seems to find some hidden truth without saying anything at all. Indeed, if you listen, there's actually not a LOT going on, especially comparing with Branca's symphonies (or his best song, "Bad Smells"): the instrumentation is very sparse, with "just" four (not 100) guitars , a bass, and drums. However, what Branca does with them... I mean, has it ever been attempted since?
This album was truely .. I hate to say life changing again, but.. very inspiring to me. I just couldn't BELIEVE what I was hearing. When I heard it, I was already familiar with all the old and new no wave groups, and I hadn't heard anything that even attempted what Branca was going for here. Anyway, for those who haven't heard it, imagine no wave's chiming guitars and free-form dynamics, somehow restructured into "classical music" with a healthy dose of crescendos. Awe-inspiring.
If you can, get the reissue. The liner notes by Lee are excellent (if anyone wants to post them, go ahead) and the remastering by Weasel Walters makes it sound better than ever.