Description
Dance to the Holy Man is the third album by the British alternative pop/rock band The Silencers, released on RCA in 1991. The album was produced by band member Jimme O’Neill (tracks: 1, 7, 11, 14), John Leckie (tracks: 5, 6, 8, 12, 13), and Mark Wallis (tracks: 2 to 4, 6, 8 to 10, 15).
Something about the Irish/Welsh tradition has made spiritual mysticism an acceptable part of culture, so that rock artists from Van Morrison to U2 and The Alarm, Simple Minds to Waterboys and World Party, have all found some place among American Christian music fans with a hunger for relevant music and deeper metaphor. One of the latest crop to grab our attention is The Silencers, who’s Letter From St. Paul and Blues for Buddha have already created a strong impression. Dance to the Holy Man, not only doesn’t disappoint, its stronger music and more direct lyric suggest this is a band we’ll enjoy listening to for years to come.
“Some say this is a dangerous place,” suggests Jimmie O’Neill in the opening track, “In this town you’d need a bulletproof, a shatterproof heart.” We are children filled up with with desire («I Want You»), but we’re «Afraid to Love», and we make the wrong choices («Rosanne»). Here we might experience «One Inch of Heaven» through the beauty and comfort of human relationships, but often we feel like «Robinson Crusoe in New York», alienated and frail. Holy Man reminds us again, as if we didn’t have a newspaper to tell us, that life is serious business («This Is Serious/John the Revelator»), that “On the morning of our love we could do no wrong/ And we were so young and free,” but noe “The King of Love is locked up/ In a machine gun/ Downtown/ Another/ Sacrificial cup” («When the Night Comes Down»).
The Silencers are another fine band for Anglophiles with an interest in spirituality and its expression in art for real folk with real lives. As the closing «Robinson Rap» suggests, “Old time religion going down slow.” [Harvest Rock Syndicate, 1991]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/gb/album/dance-to-the-holy-man/411915335)
CD tracklist:
01. Bulletproof Heart – 4:58
02. The Art Of Self Deception – 5:18
03. Singing Ginger – 1:40
04. Robinson Crusoe In New York – 5:51
05. I Want You – 4:05
06. Just Can’t Be Bothered – 4:32
07. Cameras And Colleseums – 1:04
08. One Inch Of Heaven – 5:46
09. Hey Mr Bank Manager – 3:39
10. This Is Serious / John The Revelator – 5:46
11. Afraid To Love – 3:27
12. Rosanne – 3:54
13. Electric Storm – 5:52
14. When The Night Comes Down – 3:28
15. Robinson Rap – 1:00
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by RCA.
“I Want You” (MUSIC VIDEO)
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