Where The Pyramid Meets The Ey (1990) (R.E.M./Thin White Rope/Burnett)

Product Summary Label: Warner -- A.d.a. -- UPC: 00075992642224 Release Date: 10/30/1990 Buy.com Sku: 60266290 Item#: MMLMMT Buy.com Sales Rank: 26588 Format:  CD Song Listing Disc 1 Song Title Sample 1. Reverberation (Doubt) - ZZ Top ~ Various Artists 2. If You Have Ghosts - The Good Liars/John Wesley Harding ~ Various Artists 3. I Had To Tell You - Poi Dog Pondering ~ Various Artists 4. She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own) - The Judybats ~ Various Artists 5. Slip Inside This House - Primal Scream ~ Various Artists 6. You Don't Love Me Yet - Bongwater ~ Various Artists 7. I Have Always Been Here Before - Julian Cope ~ Various Artists 8. You're Gonna Miss Me - Doug Sahm & Sons ~ Various Artists 9. It's A Cold Night For Alligators - Southern Pacific ~ Various Artists 10. Fire Engine - Richard Lloyd ~ Various Artists 11. Bermuda - Vibrating Egg ~ Various Artists 12. I Walked With A Zombie - R.E.M. ~ Various Artists 13. Earthquake - Butthole Surfers ~ Various Artists 14. Don't Slander Me - Lou Ann Barton ~ Various Artists 15. Red Temple Prayer (Two Headed Dog) - Sister Double Happiness ~ Various Artists 16. Burn The Flames - Thin White Rope ~ Various Artists 17. Postures (Leave Your Body Behind) - Tabby Thomas/Chris Thomas ~ Various Artists 18. Nothing In Return - T-Bone Burnett ~ Various Artists 19. Reverberation (Doubt) - Jesus & Mary Chain ~ Various Artists   Album Notes and Credits Notes & Personnel Info WHERE THE PYRAMID MEETS THE EYE is a tribute album to Roky Erikson, lead singer/songwriter for 60's pyschedelic band The 13th Floor Elevators. Includes liner notes by Bill Bentley. Roky Erickson often seems to be better known in rock circles for his well publicized psychological maladies and his less-than-gentle treatment at the hands of Texas' judicial system than for his music -- and that's a shame. While Roky's habit of informing anyone who asks that he's a Martian or is in contact with Satan makes for good fanzine copy, the best reason to be interested in Erickson is his songwriting -- there's a graceful, vivid surrealism to his lyrical style that's endured far better than most of the noodlers who came out of the psychedelic rock movement, and his later bursts of horror film fancy conjure up a troubling tension that's laughed at only by the shallow or ignorant. When Erickson's legal problems came to a head in the late 1980s, longtime fan and Sire Records executive Bill Bentley assembled Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson to raise money for Erickson, as well as drawing attention to the unique beauty of his music. Like most multi-artist tribute albums, the results are a bit uneven; some of these artists seem to have appeared out of convenience rather than any great love of Roky's music, and a few of the interpretations are simple miscalculations (Thin White Rope's Guy Kyser really goes overboard on his version of "Burn the Flames"). But there are a several moments of very real beauty and power here, especially from the artists who share Erickson's Texas heritage -- Doug Sahm and ZZ Top rock out on their contributions, the Butthole Surfers' version of "Earthquake" is one of their finest moments on wax, and T-Bone Burnett's take on "Nothing in Return" is a heart-tugging gem. The 13th Floor Elevators' first two albums are still the best place to sample Erickson's music (and the latter-day All That May Do My Rhyme is a fine album, for which Erickson actually receives royalties -- hint, hint), but Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye is a sincere if inconsistent tribute to his work, and shows how well his songs can translate to the styles of other artists. ~ Mark Deming   Technical Info Release Date : 10/30/1990 Original Release Date : 1990 Catalog ID : 26422 Label : Sire Records (USA) Number of Discs : 1 Runtime : 75m : 6s Studio/Live : Studio Mono/Stereo : Stereo SPAR Code : AAD UPC : 00075992642224   Professional Reviews New York Times (Publisher) (11/4/90) - "...The youngsters stay pretty true to the spirit of the original recordings...highlight the trippy Buddy Holly-like quality of Mr. Erickson's affecting but often overlooked ballads..."    Product Image