1988
GOD
IN THREE PERSONS
God
in Three Persons
- Album
God in Three Persons Soundtrack - Album
Double Shot - 3" CD single
Holy Kiss of Flesh - 3" CD single
Main Titles
(God in Three Persons)
Hard & Tenderly
Devotion?
The Thing About Them
Their Early Years
Loss of A Loved One
The Touch
The Service
Confused (By What I Felt Inside)
Fine Fat Flies
Time
Silver, Sharp and Could Not Care
Kiss of Flesh
Pain and Pleasure
|
Main Titles (God
in Three Persons)
Hard & Tenderly
The Thing About Them
Their Early Years
Loss of A Loved One
The Touch
The Service (part 1)
The Service (part 2)
Confused By What I Felt Inside
Kiss of Flesh
Pain & Pleasure
|
Double Shot
Loss of A Loved One (ext.)
Kiss of Flesh (inst.)
Holy Kiss of Flesh |
HISTORICAL CONTEXT*
Since the rise of the compact
disc had finished off their last major project (the American Composer Series),
it was only fitting that the Residents' next major project be specifically designed
for CD. God in Three Persons, released through Rykodisc, combined MIDIfied,
atmospheric music with an epic poem that used the same rhythm and rhyme schemes
as Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven." Lyrically, the project told the
story of Mr. X, an ambitious shyster, and his religious/sexual/violent experiences
with a set of divinely gifted Siamese twins (one male and one female). The music
used two recurring themes: the traditional Christian hymn "Holy, Holy,
Holy (God in Three Persons)" and the Swingin' Medallions' 1965 hit "Double
Shot of My Baby's Love."
The Residents conceived God
in Three Persons as "potato chips": the music would be available
in different "flavors," each a unique perspective on the project.
As such, besides the flagship CD (God in Three Persons), the group
released an all-instrumental "soundtrack" album, and two 3-inch singles:
an adaptation of "Double Shot of My Baby's Love," and an "almost
danceable" extended mix of "Holy Kiss of Flesh."
Philip "Snakefinger"
Lithman was scheduled to add his guitar work to God in Three Persons,
but died tragically of a heart attack in Austria before he could return to the
USA to record. The Residents filled in the guitar parts themselves.
The work's blend of spirituality,
unorthodox sex, and graphic violence caused considerable controversy;
nonetheless, God in Three Persons brought the Residents their highest
critical praise in a decade.
REVIEW
RATING: 10
An opera, insists their inner
circle. God in Three Persons is an opera.
Well, it isn't. Mark
of the Mole is an opera; God in Three Persons is an epic.
Some might call it a step down, but the fact remains that this project is the
second great masterpiece of the Residents' career, and one of the greatest works
of art of the last two decades. The central idea of it—that perhaps religious
fervor, sexual longing, and violent frenzy are by nature far more closely related
than you want to believe—spins off so many ideas, and such big ones, that
you can't wrap your mind around more than one or two at a time. And more amazingly,
it develops those big ideas itself, without breaking the project's framework.
So the deal is, you start with
the main God in Three Persons album, and you listen to it a whole bunch
of times. You get familiar with the story and ideas, both stated and implied.
(HINT: keep your eyes on the things that come in groups of one, two, or three.)
When you've got a handle on some of the heavy stuff, you go and get the gorgeous
and subtle Soundtrack album, with no lyrics, and as you wonder if hornsmith
Richard Marriott didn't win some kind of award, you become amazed at the number
of new ideas you pick up from the instrumental music (best described as "ambient
show tunes"). And that makes you listen to the main CD again to see what
you missed between lyrics and music.
But then you buy the singles
on eBay. You listen to them, and suddenly the whole damn thing is that much
MORE COMPLEX. So you listen to the four individually, then
in odd combinations, and with every one of them there's some symbol or allusion
or implication you hadn't noticed before. Then, finally, you play all four together,
in any order you choose, and it's staggering. Repeat all of the above steps,
ad nauseam, for completely new ways of seeing the spectrum. Oh! Don't
forget to follow the libretto...
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