Song of the Bailing Man

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Reissue of the Ohio-based post-punk legend's sixth album, originally released on Rough Trade in 1982. 11 tracks. 1999 release. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Tracks:

The Long Walk Home
Use Of A Dog
Petrified
Stormy Weather
West Side Story
Thoughts That Go By Steam
Big Ed's Used Farms
A Day Such As This
The Vulgar Boatman Bird
My Hat
Horns Are A Dilemma

Album Description

Reissue of the Ohio-based post-punk legend's sixth album, originally released on Rough Trade in 1982. 11 tracks. 1999 release.

Customer Reviews:

Accessible and enjoyable but no masterpiece.......2007-03-30

Songs Of The Bailing Man is an understated display of the talents of this remarkable band. Not all the songs are particularly memorable but there are enough highlights to make this an essential album for the devoted fan. The instrumental mix and arrangements, especially clever use of the synthesizer, deliver the expected magical textures, but they often seem to fade without leaving much of an impression.

The jazzy Long Walk Home is followed by Use Of A Dog with its lovely stereo sound effects, while the buoyantly percussive West Side Side Story and the atmospheric Thoughts That Go By Steam are charming but not exceptional. Big Ed's Used Farms is a frenetic short piece and the long track A Day Such As This approaches greatness in its structural complexity, brilliant rhythmic patterns and clever wordplay.

The album concludes with another highlight, Horns Are A Dilemma, a quite accessible and appealing song. All the elements that make Pere Ubu so distinctive are here: the quirky arrangements, the dramatic vocals and the Beefheartian weirdness, but Bailing Man is not one of their best works. I recommend their masterpieces The Modern Dance, Dub Housing and Worlds In Collision.

Worlds in Collision

The Modern Dance

Dub Housing

My only Pere Ubu-I WANT MORE!.......2005-05-01

I love this album! David Thomas' warbly vocals, Mayo Thompson's rare but catchy guitar, Tony Maimone's complicated, intricate basslines, and Anton Fier's complex drumming make for a wonderful album. I'll do a song by song breakdown to make it easier for you to see the inside of my mind bu-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

1. The Long Walk Home: Great song with a jazz breakdown in the middle, featuring odd static noises. 4/5

2. Use of a Dog: David Thomas kind of sounds like Tiny Tim on this one, which adds to the song's oddness. Cool trumpet, played by guest Eddie Thornton. 4/5

3. Petrified: GREAT SONG GREAT SONG GREAT SONG the little voices in my head are screaming. I have to agree with them. Between the great rhythm section workout, the lyrics about fossils, and, uh... I dunno, it's good okay?! 5/5

4. Stormy Weather: Too long even at 3 minutes. Very boring, although some of the ship noises and bells are slightly interesting. My least favorite track on the album. 2/5

5. West Side Story: It sounds a little bit like jazz gone wrong, with the great rhythm section (again! Maimone and Fier are really awesome!) and the mallet instruments. I likeses it lotses. 4/5

6. Thoughts that go by Steam: Eh. It's pretty good, but not one of my favorites. 3/5

7. Big Ed's Used Farms: If only for the sheer goofiness of the song it gets 5/5.

8. A Day Such as This: A mini-epic divided into 2 or 3 parts, some of which sound vaguely tribal and quite interesting. David Thomas spells out "Hyperbole" which I think means something like nonsense. Ha ha ha. Really good song though. 5/5

9. The Vulgar Boatman Bird: Good. 4/5

10. My Hat: Goofy. 4/5

11. Horns are a Dilemma: Good 4/5

So, this album gets my seal of approval.

Ubu's most consistent album since The Modern Dance.......2003-12-15

After two albums of overexperimental avant garde with a couple of really great songs thrown in, Pere Ubu finally releases a costistently good album without the unlistenable experimental songs like Lost in Art or a Small Dark Coud. While it lacks the grittiness of other stellar LPs like the Modern Dance, Song of the Bailing Man presents a more complex and, yes, artsy Pere Ubu. This album is no less artsy and FAR less pretentious than The Art of Walking or New Picnic Time which expect the listener to take a rock band so seriously as to make radio static acceptable. A great buy for someone interested in Pere Ubu.

Lacking Quality.......2001-12-20

No hooks, no strong instrumentals ... the band is becoming the backdrop for David Thomas' effete and pretentious attempts at dadaistic dinner theatre. A sad finale to the original run of Pere Ubu.

Imagination Animates.......2000-07-02

Song of the Bailing Man is an album that is often overlooked; for many fans of Pere Ubu it is their least favorite (along with Art of Walking). This makes sense because it is a different album from the rest. It lacks the Punk edge of the earliest Pere Ubu and it's not as dark as the middle period albums (and I'm speaking only of the unit's first incarnation). With Song of the Bailing Man, the group took a brighter, more whimsical approach that was to be carried on by David Thomas in his early solo work. This album stands as Pere Ubu's greatest contribution to the Zolo style with its zany energy and playful, abstract melodies. The rhythms are complex and mind boggling with their surprising changes of time and tempo. The songs are alternately led by Maimone's intricate bass-lines and the chipper staccato of Thompson's guitar. The interplay between the two is fascinating throughout the CD. The over-all sound tends toward lop-sided and wobbly, especially on toons like "Big Ed's Used Farms", "West Side Story", and "Vulgar Boatman Bird", to name a few. Song of the Bailing Man is more song oriented than the preceding album, Art of Walking, the exception being "Stormy Weather" (which actually sounds like a foggy night at sea). Every single song on this album in excellent. As a whole it stands apart from the rest of the Pere Ubu discography in its brilliant assimilation of, and unique approach to, Zolo.

Average customer rating:

SONG OF THE BAILING MAN

Manufacturer: COE records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

American Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000BH5OS0

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