MORPHINE
''THE NIGHT''
FEBRUARY 1 2000
49:41
1 The Night 04:47
2 So Many Ways 03:58
3 Souvenir 04:38
4 Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer 05:40
5 Like A Mirror 05:23
6 A Good Woman Is Hard To Find 04:10
7 Rope On Fire 05:33
8 I'm Yours, You're Mine 03:44
9 The Way We Met 02:57
10 Slow Numbers 03:55
11 Take Me With You 04:52
All Tracks By Mark Sandman
Billy Beard/Drums (Snare)
Ramona Clifton/Vocals
Dana Colley/Piano, Sax (Baritone), Sax (Bass), Sax (Tenor), Vocals
Billy Conway/Drums (Snare), Percussion, Vocals
Jerry Deupree/Drums (Snare)
Brahim Fribgane/Drums (Snare)
Margaret Garrett/Vocals
Carolyn Kaylor/Vocals
Joseph Kessler/Viola
Tara McManus/Vocals
John Medeski/Guest Artist, Organ
Michael Rivard/Bass (Upright)
Mark Sandman/Bass, Guitar (Bass), Organ, Piano, Trombone
Jane Scarpantoni/Cello
Linda Veins/Vocals
REVIEW/AMG
by Greg Prato
***/*****
Morphine's fourth studio release, 1997's Like Swimming, was a bit of a disappointment when compared to such stellar earlier releases as Cure for Pain and Yes. After singer/two-string bassist Mark Sandman died of a heart attack on-stage in 1999, many Morphine fans assumed that Like Swimming would be the band's swansong -- thankfully, it wasn't. The Boston trio completed their fifth album just prior to Sandman's untimely passing, entitled The Night, and it's definitely an improvement over its predecessor. Whereas many of the songs on their previous album sounded unfinished and rushed, The Night sounds like a fully realized work. In fact, the band took time to focus on expanding their minimalist sound to include other instruments (cello, violin, upright bass, oud, organ) and new approaches (female backup singers, string arrangements), while Sandman produced the album himself. Highlights include the ghostly "Souvenir," the Middle Eastern sounds of "Rope on Fire," the sultry album-opening title track, and the up-tempo (by Morphine standards, anyway) "Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer." The Night shows that Morphine was just entering a new phase of their career, and it's a shame that Mark Sandman is no longer with us to follow through on this promising new direction.
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Morphine is a rarity -- bluesy, bare-bones rock & roll without any guitars. Instead of guitar riffs, the trio relies on sliding two-string basslines, raucous saxophones, and wry, ironically detached vocals. During the mid-'90s, Morphine gained a sizable cult following in America, primarily due to good word of mouth, heavy college airplay, and positive reviews.
Morphine was formed in 1990 by bassist/vocalist Mark Sandman, who had previously played with the bluesy alternative rock band Treat Her Right, and Dana Colley (tenor and baritone saxophone), a former member of the local Boston group Three Colors. Sandman and Colley added drummer Jerome Dupree to complete the lineup. The group released its debut album, Good, on the independent Accurate/Distortion label in 1991; it was reissued on Rykodisc Records in 1992. Good received substantial airplay on American college radio stations, as well as favorable reviews in alternative publications across the country. After the release of Good, Dupree left the band and was replaced by Billy Conway, who had previously played with Sandman in Treat Her Right.
The positive reception to Good set the stage for 1993's Cure for Pain, which received good reviews from a variety of music and mainstream publications upon its spring release. Morphine supported Cure for Pain with an extensive American and European tour that lasted throughout 1994, which helped the album sell over 300,000 copies -- an impressive feat for an independent release. In 1995, Morphine released their third album, Yes, which also received favorable reviews and helped the band sustain its large cult following.
The success of Cure for Pain and Yes also attracted the attention of major record labels, and in late 1996, Dreamworks bought out the majority share of Morphine's contract from Rykodisc. Like Swimming, the group's debut for Dreamworks, was released in the spring of 1997 to generally favorable reviews, yet it failed to break Morphine out of cult status. On July 3, 1999, Sandman collapsed on-stage during a performance in Rome, dying of a heart attack at the age of 46. The Night was posthumously issued early the following year and the live disc Bootleg Detroit appeared in fall 2000.
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''THE NIGHT''
FEBRUARY 1 2000
49:41
1 The Night 04:47
2 So Many Ways 03:58
3 Souvenir 04:38
4 Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer 05:40
5 Like A Mirror 05:23
6 A Good Woman Is Hard To Find 04:10
7 Rope On Fire 05:33
8 I'm Yours, You're Mine 03:44
9 The Way We Met 02:57
10 Slow Numbers 03:55
11 Take Me With You 04:52
All Tracks By Mark Sandman
Billy Beard/Drums (Snare)
Ramona Clifton/Vocals
Dana Colley/Piano, Sax (Baritone), Sax (Bass), Sax (Tenor), Vocals
Billy Conway/Drums (Snare), Percussion, Vocals
Jerry Deupree/Drums (Snare)
Brahim Fribgane/Drums (Snare)
Margaret Garrett/Vocals
Carolyn Kaylor/Vocals
Joseph Kessler/Viola
Tara McManus/Vocals
John Medeski/Guest Artist, Organ
Michael Rivard/Bass (Upright)
Mark Sandman/Bass, Guitar (Bass), Organ, Piano, Trombone
Jane Scarpantoni/Cello
Linda Veins/Vocals
REVIEW/AMG
by Greg Prato
***/*****
Morphine's fourth studio release, 1997's Like Swimming, was a bit of a disappointment when compared to such stellar earlier releases as Cure for Pain and Yes. After singer/two-string bassist Mark Sandman died of a heart attack on-stage in 1999, many Morphine fans assumed that Like Swimming would be the band's swansong -- thankfully, it wasn't. The Boston trio completed their fifth album just prior to Sandman's untimely passing, entitled The Night, and it's definitely an improvement over its predecessor. Whereas many of the songs on their previous album sounded unfinished and rushed, The Night sounds like a fully realized work. In fact, the band took time to focus on expanding their minimalist sound to include other instruments (cello, violin, upright bass, oud, organ) and new approaches (female backup singers, string arrangements), while Sandman produced the album himself. Highlights include the ghostly "Souvenir," the Middle Eastern sounds of "Rope on Fire," the sultry album-opening title track, and the up-tempo (by Morphine standards, anyway) "Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer." The Night shows that Morphine was just entering a new phase of their career, and it's a shame that Mark Sandman is no longer with us to follow through on this promising new direction.
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Morphine is a rarity -- bluesy, bare-bones rock & roll without any guitars. Instead of guitar riffs, the trio relies on sliding two-string basslines, raucous saxophones, and wry, ironically detached vocals. During the mid-'90s, Morphine gained a sizable cult following in America, primarily due to good word of mouth, heavy college airplay, and positive reviews.
Morphine was formed in 1990 by bassist/vocalist Mark Sandman, who had previously played with the bluesy alternative rock band Treat Her Right, and Dana Colley (tenor and baritone saxophone), a former member of the local Boston group Three Colors. Sandman and Colley added drummer Jerome Dupree to complete the lineup. The group released its debut album, Good, on the independent Accurate/Distortion label in 1991; it was reissued on Rykodisc Records in 1992. Good received substantial airplay on American college radio stations, as well as favorable reviews in alternative publications across the country. After the release of Good, Dupree left the band and was replaced by Billy Conway, who had previously played with Sandman in Treat Her Right.
The positive reception to Good set the stage for 1993's Cure for Pain, which received good reviews from a variety of music and mainstream publications upon its spring release. Morphine supported Cure for Pain with an extensive American and European tour that lasted throughout 1994, which helped the album sell over 300,000 copies -- an impressive feat for an independent release. In 1995, Morphine released their third album, Yes, which also received favorable reviews and helped the band sustain its large cult following.
The success of Cure for Pain and Yes also attracted the attention of major record labels, and in late 1996, Dreamworks bought out the majority share of Morphine's contract from Rykodisc. Like Swimming, the group's debut for Dreamworks, was released in the spring of 1997 to generally favorable reviews, yet it failed to break Morphine out of cult status. On July 3, 1999, Sandman collapsed on-stage during a performance in Rome, dying of a heart attack at the age of 46. The Night was posthumously issued early the following year and the live disc Bootleg Detroit appeared in fall 2000.
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