Hallowed Ground (Violent Femmes album)
| Hallowed Ground | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Violent Femmes | ||||
| Released | June 1984 | |||
| Recorded | January 1984 | |||
| Studio | Secret Sound Studio, New York City | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 38:57 | |||
| Label | Slash | |||
| Producer | Mark Van Hecke | |||
| Violent Femmes chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| The Village Voice | C+[3] |
Hallowed Ground is the second album by Violent Femmes, released in June 1984. Like the band's first album, the songs were mostly written by singer/guitarist/lyricist Gordon Gano when he was in high school. "Country Death Song", for example, written by Gano during his high school classes, was inspired by the tradition of folk songs about "terrible, horrific stories".[4]
The Christian-related lyrics on Hallowed Ground were thought by some to be ironic, but Gano is a devout Christian.[1] The other two members of Violent Femmes were atheists, and initially refused to perform those songs, but after their debut had been recorded, they relented and several of Gano's religion-themed songs were recorded for Hallowed Ground.[1] Gano stated in 1989, "At the time, Brian (Ritchie) was very aggressively anti-anything Christian. He said he didn't want to be playing in a band that was expressing something that he felt so vehemently against."[5]
Track listing
All tracks written by Gordon Gano.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Country Death Song" | 5:02 |
| 2. | "I Hear the Rain" | 1:32 |
| 3. | "Never Tell" | 7:10 |
| 4. | "Jesus Walking on the Water" | 3:07 |
| 5. | "I Know It’s True but I’m Sorry to Say" | 5:05 |
| 6. | "Hallowed Ground" | 4:18 |
| 7. | "Sweet Misery Blues" | 2:51 |
| 8. | "Black Girls" | 5:41 |
| 9. | "It’s Gonna Rain" | 4:11 |
Personnel
- Violent Femmes
- Gordon Gano – vocals, acoustic guitar (1, 2, 4, 7, 9), electric guitar (2, 3, 5, 6, 8), violin (4)
- Brian Ritchie – acoustic bass (1, 2, 4, 7, 9), electric bass (3, 5, 6, 8), slide bass (8), celesta (5), marimba (2), jew's harp (8), vocals (2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9)
- Victor DeLorenzo – tranceaphone (1, 2, 4, 7, 8), acoustic and electric drum kits (1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9), stompatron (8), percussion (8), vocals (all songs except 1)
- Additional musicians
- Mark Van Hecke – piano on "Hallowed Ground" and "It's Gonna Rain", organ on "I Know That It's True but I'm Sorry to Say"
- Tony Trischka – banjo on "Country Death Song" and "It's Gonna Rain"
- Christina Houghton – autoharp on "Jesus Walking on the Water"
- Peter Balestrieri – vocals on "Jesus Walking on the Water", saxophone on "Black Girls", harmonica on "It's Gonna Rain"
- Cynthia Gano Lewis – vocals on "Jesus Walking on the Water"
- Drake Scott – cornetto on "Black Girls", sackbut on "Sweet Misery Blues"
- John Zorn – alto saxophone, clarinet and game calls on "Black Girls"
- John Tanner – clarinet on "Sweet Misery Blues"
- Production
- Mark Van Hecke – production
- John Tanner – engineering
- Warren Bruleigh – engineering
Charts
Album
| Chart | Entry date |
Peak position |
Weeks charted |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARIA Charts[6] | June 4, 1984 | 56 | 11 |
References
- 1 2 3 Woodbury, Jason P. (24 September 2014). "Violent Femmes' Profane Gospel Rock Album Turns 30".
- ↑ Monger, James Christopher. "Hallowed Ground – Violent Femmes". AllMusic. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
- ↑ Christgau, Robert (June 26, 1984). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
- ↑ Ripple, Angie (May 1, 2016). "Interview: Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes". Bozeman Magazine. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
- ↑ Blanco, John (14 June 1989). "Gordon Gano's Gospel Hour".
- ↑ Kent, David (compiler); Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 Years of Hit Singles and Albums from the Top 100 Charts; p. 330 ISBN 9780646119175