MORPHINE
''MORPHINE: BOOTLEG DETROIT''
SEPTEMBER 26 2000
40:23
1 Intro 00:19
2 Come Along 04:20
3 Dana Intro 00:14
4 Mary 03:04
5 Banter #1 00:21
6 Candy 03:20
7 Sheila 02:52
8 Billy Intro 00:06
9 Claire 03:11
10 My Brain 01:42
11 Banter #2 00:12
12 Head With Wings 03:33
13 Cure For Pain 03:11
14 You Speak My Language 03:35
15 Thursday 03:02
16 Banter #3 00:14
17 You Look Like Rain 03:31
18 Buena 03:27
All Tracks By Mark Sandman
REVIEW/AMG
by Stacia Proefrock
***/*****
The odd title of this final sanctioned release by Morphine before Mark Sandman's untimely death comes from its origin -- a tape made by an audience member at a Detroit show during Morphine's Cure for Pain tour. While the tapes were mastered by Sandman shortly before his demise, the original quality of the recording cannot be overcome. Still, this is a good document of Morphine's excellent live show and displays the energy and passion that they played with during the tour that supported their breakthrough album. Some short tracks featuring banter probably could have been sacrificed in favor of more songs, but on the whole the album stands as a loving tribute to an innovative band.
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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''MORPHINE: BOOTLEG DETROIT''
SEPTEMBER 26 2000
40:23
1 Intro 00:19
2 Come Along 04:20
3 Dana Intro 00:14
4 Mary 03:04
5 Banter #1 00:21
6 Candy 03:20
7 Sheila 02:52
8 Billy Intro 00:06
9 Claire 03:11
10 My Brain 01:42
11 Banter #2 00:12
12 Head With Wings 03:33
13 Cure For Pain 03:11
14 You Speak My Language 03:35
15 Thursday 03:02
16 Banter #3 00:14
17 You Look Like Rain 03:31
18 Buena 03:27
All Tracks By Mark Sandman
REVIEW/AMG
by Stacia Proefrock
***/*****
The odd title of this final sanctioned release by Morphine before Mark Sandman's untimely death comes from its origin -- a tape made by an audience member at a Detroit show during Morphine's Cure for Pain tour. While the tapes were mastered by Sandman shortly before his demise, the original quality of the recording cannot be overcome. Still, this is a good document of Morphine's excellent live show and displays the energy and passion that they played with during the tour that supported their breakthrough album. Some short tracks featuring banter probably could have been sacrificed in favor of more songs, but on the whole the album stands as a loving tribute to an innovative band.
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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