1985 (released 1986/1999)
13TH
ANNIVERSARY SHOW
LIVE IN TOKYO
Album
Lizard Lady
Semolina
Hello Skinny/Constantinople
Jailhouse Rock
Where Is She?
Picnic in the Jungle
Smelly Tongues
Eloise
The Ship's A' Goin' Down
The New Machine
Tourniquet of Roses
Passing the Bottle
Monkey and Bunny
Theme from an American TV Show
Man's World
Walter Westinghouse
Easter Woman
Amber
Red Rider
Die in Terror
The Coming of the Crow/Eva's Warning
Cry for the Fire
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HISTORICAL CONTEXT*
The Mole
Show had cured the Residents of any desire to play live. However, the surprise
1985 success of The Big Bubble in Japan coincided with the Residents'
thirteenth anniversary—and 13 had always been their lucky number. So they
rounded up Snakefinger (dear friend and favorite guitarist) and headed off to
play their "greatest hits" to the world. The Mole
Show taught them restraint, and they spent a minimum of money for a very
simple production: themselves, their eyeball costumes, two dancers, revealing
disguises for the singer, and their instruments. What they spared in expense,
though, they made up in music, playing a long list of classics and even backing
Snakefinger on his songs for good measure.
The only setback of this smash
success was that the red eyeball costume was stolen one night—shortly
before showtime. The Residents quickly unearthed a skull from the Third
Reich 'N' Roll film to cover the eyeless Resident; it stayed in the
act even after they recovered the missing eyeball.
The 13th Anniversary Show generated
three live albums: Live in Holland, Live in Japan, and Live
in the U.S.A. (a UWEB release). The Japan record came from their Oct. 30,
1985 performance. In 1999, the Residents and the Cryptic Corporation revised
the original album with different songs (from the same concert) and released
this CD.
REVIEW
RATING: 7
The actual rating is 7.9999999999999.
But I am forced by my own self-imposed restrictions to round down....And folks,
I want you to know that I AGONIZED over this rating. Seriously. I think there
was a flash of actual physical pain over it.
Understand that the Residents
and Snakefinger know, understand, and perform this music so perfectly together
that 13th Anniversary never stood a chance of scoring less than a 7.
But in listening to it, not much impressed me at first, beyond that musicianship.
13th Anniversary seemed like a retread of songs I'd known for years;
the renditions that weren't perfectly faithful were still instantly recognizable.
What did I have to gain from listening to them?
I didn't know anything.
The sixth or seventh listen
finally pushed the magic button. Two tracks in particular got me going: the
tension-and-release ROAR that is "Where Is She?"
and—most especially—"Monkey and Bunny." It is here what
it was on Title in Limbo—gorgeous anguish—but the Residents'
live energy is so...immediate. You hear the melody and you want to curl up into
a ball and cry, and yet laugh giddily at the same time. It's stunning. It's
wonderful.
The door thus opened, I learned
again what I should know by now: the glory is in the details. For that, we have
to give Snakefinger extra credit. There are astonishing embellishments and licks
on his guitar ("Man's World" is brilliant),
and one of the best performances is on a song he co-wrote ("Picnic in the
Jungle"). There are so many things; the new "Walter
Westinghouse" and "Amber"
are particularly fantastic as all-around new perspectives. Sounds tantalizing,
don't it?
In the end, though, I'm uncomfortable
using the word "masterpiece" (even a minor one) about a project with
no overarching concept except greatest hits. And, as usual, about a live "show"
that you can't see. So 7 it is, even though I really really
REALLY want to give it more. Why, oh why, did I have to make
all these Godforsaken rules?
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