Description
Slow Dark Train is the sixth studio album by the American folk-rock/alt-country combo Vigilantes of Love fronted by singer-songwriter Bill Mallonee, released on Capricorn Records in 1997, in co-operation with Fingerprint Records, manufactured and marketed by Mercury Records, a PolyGram company. The album was recorded at Full Moon Studios in Watkinsville, Georgia; September 1996, with Bill Mallonee, Danny Horrid, and Dan Russell producing. All songs written by Bill Mallonee. (The title for this project went undecided for quite a while. Two other considerations were “Garage Mahal” and “Resplendent.”) Slow Dark Train was the band’s third and final album on Capricorn Records.
Family Christian Bookstores refused to carry the album because of the song “Love Cocoon” was considered potentially offensive to customers.
It’s been two years since Vigilantes of Love released Blister Soul to critical acclaim, but this Athens, Ga. modern rock unit has still not garnered popular appeal in the general market. And while some Christian music fans have long embraced the group’s spiritually-fused music, Warner Resound formally introduced the band to the Christian market last year with V.O.L., a compilation of the band’s more spiritually minded songs from its five previous releases.
On Slow Dark Train Bill Mallonee, the band’s singer/songwriter/guitarist and only remaining original Vigilante, continues to write songs in a way that they cannot be easily dissected into either the religious or non-religious camps. He writes songs that arise from the cross-sections of a human’s life. Since these are his lyrics, the words reflect the experience of one Christian struggling to “live in the world, but not of it.”
Deeply honest, perceptive and challenging, Mallonee’s songs this time around chronicle the decline of Western civilization and its impact on persons of faith. “Decadence and violence,” he says, “we do best.” In a world where everyone has their own «Version of the Truth», and people a eager to embrace substitutes like «Tokyo Rose», the child of faith can feel like they floating in a boat that’s «Taking on Water».
In the face of life’s grim realities, Mallonee offers the witness of «All the Mercy We Have Found», an exploration of how God meets us in the drama of our existence: “These equal parts faith and hopelessness/ Equal parts joy and equal parts gloom.” «Judas Skin», the acoustic folk song that closes the 14-track album, offers this prayer: “I love Your Spirit working overtime/ And when I come out of this spin/ And I see You’re still my friend.”
Two songs best define Mallonee’s worldview. «Love Cocoon», an intimate sexy love song to his wife modeled after the Bible’s Song of Solomon, finds life’s richest joys and pleasures bound together in Gods blessings upon a rewarding monogamous love affaire. On the other hand, if it’s love that makes the world go around, in «Facsimile», he sees the world embrace a fake, that’s “Less wiser, and more cold/ As you try to make your own way.”
Musically, Vigilantes offer a straigh-ahead rock record, with strong hints of Neil Young-styled grunge guitar adding grist to Mallonee’s mill. Strong melodies match his great lyrics, and the band plays with rock-solid heart and soul throughout.
My first exposure to Vigilantes – the Mark Heard-produced Killing Floor – is still the most compelling VOL recording so far. Yet Slow Dark Train makes a dynamic claim for second place. That, friends, is no small feat. [Brian Q. Newcomb, CCM, June 1997]
CD tracklist:
01. Locust Years – 3:28
02. Tokyo Rose – 4:02
03. Black Crow – 4:11
04. Only a Scratch – 6:04
05. Taking On Water – 4:11
06. Points of My Departure – 3:36
07. All the Mercy We Have Found – 3:54
08. Version of the Truth – 2:51
09. Sitting – 4:07
10. Willingly – 3:52
11. Facsimile – 4:12
12. Love Cocoon – 3:42
13. Hang on Every Word – 4:23
14. Judas Skin – 6:33
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Capricorn Records. Pre-ordered copies of Slow Dark Train were sent out to those who ordered directly from Fingerprint Records. These copies are stamped as pre-releases on the cover. The design on the CD itself was an enscription from an actual gravestone. Available at Bandcamp: https://billmalloneemusic.bandcamp.com/album/slow-dark-train-1997
CREDITS. Produced by Bill Mallonee, Danny Horrid, Dan Russell. Engineered by Danny Horrid, Mark Smith and Taylor Montague. Production Associates: Harv, Jennifer O’Neil and John Weston. Mixed by John Weston at Metropolis Studio, Middleton, MA. Mastered by Henk Kooistra and John Weston at 9 West Mastering, Marlborough, MA. All songs written by Bill Mallonee. Song arrangements by Vigilantes of Love.
Musicians: Bill Mallonee (lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, harmonica, piano), Chris Bland (bass guitar, distort-o-bass, background vocals), Tom Crea (drums, percussion). Phil Madeira (hammond organ, lap steel, piano, keyboards), Darryl Coyne (cello), Mark Smith (percussion, background vocals), Danny Horrid (background vocals).
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