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Vega was the lead singer of Suicide, the psychotic avant rock duo that gained some respect for the synthesizer 70s with their dark, unrelenting vision of urban decay and drug fueled excess. On their early albums, keyboard man Martin Rev played a broken Farfisa they couldn't afford to repair. Coupled with Vega's distraught vocals they made a glorious din that remains unique in the history of pop music, both tuneful and abrasive. Almost 30 years later, Vega retains his ability to aggravate and perplex us with his confrontational style. In the liner notes, the singer -- who co-produced with Perkin Barnes and long time collaborator and keyboard player Liz Lamere - credits himself with "Vocals and Sounds," which is apt; the assault he's laid down here may be compelling, but it's the least melodic work of his career. Many of the compositions -- it's hard to categorize them as songs exactly - consist of a few key phrases repeated over and over, like the frantic muttering of a homeless, street corner prophet who sees things only he can understand. Vega punctuates the lyrics with shrieks, hoots of demented laughter and snarling, sputtering asides. It's not too different from the noise he was making on his early solo albums, but it lacks the haunted melodies and natural swing of his youthful work. The record has its power, but the unremitting industrial pulse will wear on the nerves of any but the most die-hard fan. The album sounds strangely old-fashioned, a tribute perhaps to the influence Suicide had in its prime. ~ j. poet, All Music Guide
Station
07/31/2007 | Mute U.s.
All Music Guide Review
Track Listing
Credits
- Liz Lamere
- Vocals
Notes
from Blast First/Mute: Five years in the making, Vega's tenth solo release, Station, is a blistering statement of intent from a rock'n'roll shaman whose work has always stretched parameters, managing to defy expectations at every turn.
As Vega himself says, "Station represents a kind of culmination point for me. It gathers up many of the elements that have been in my previous work and takes them all the way. In many ways, it's my most truthful record in that I'm now at the age where it's easier for me to listen to my own heart-beat and act on it creatively."
Station marks the latest decisive stage in a musical journey that began for Alan Vega way back in 1970 in downtown New York. A visual artist and singer, Vega teamed up with the classically trained Martin Rev to form Suicide.
Since the mid-80s, Vega has released five solo albums: Deuce Avenue (1990); Power On To Zero Hour (1991); New Raceion (1993); Dujang Prang (1995); and 2007 (1999).
"I guess it is an angry album," says Vega. "People have always told me that my music is angry. To me, it was always just an energy. It was the way I perceived the world. When Suicide started out, the Vietnam War was going nuts with Nixon dropping bombs everywhere. Suicide was very much a reaction to all the shit that was going on around us. The key Suicide song was Dream Baby Dream which was about the need to keep our dreams alive. I knew back then that something poisonous was encroaching on our lives, on all our freedoms. When I started work on this new album five years ago, it truly felt that that dream was beginning to die. It's like all the fears I had about the world in the 70s had come true. I'd get so close to finishing the album. Then the world situation kept evolving, my anger kept rising and the music kept moving closer and closer to the heart of the matter. Y'know, people have always said that my work was ahead of its time. But I've always believed it's been right on time."
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