I was wanting something to play that really kicked the walls in while I cleaned up around the house today. The search ended quickly as soon as I found Relationship in Command by At The Drive-In in my CD collection. It's been a good year since I've given this entire CD a spin from head to toe and man oh man, I was in love all over again. It's like seeing a girl from high school at the reunion and she still looks as amazing to you as the day the last day you saw her. This album is that ex-girlfriend and there's not many others that match up.
It really bummed me out when At The Drive-In broke up soon after the release of Relationship in Command. I rarely get that bummed out over a band breakup because normally it's after they've already peaked. ATDI on the other hand didn't even scratch the surface of their potential. When you listen to this album, you hear a band that's got more power and spit than anything since Nevermind by Nirvana and Ten by Pearl Jam. Yes, they were that good and I can't see anyone changing my mind on that.
Anyhow, years removed from that mess, I have to say I see why they quit. Why would anyone want to follow up Relationship In Command? It's the album of the decade and it has very few challengers. There's no fat on this album. None. You can comb through this as much as you like and every song is a work of energetic art in the highest form. As if Walter White had made his first batch of the blue stuff from Breaking Bad and decided to call it quits.
I don't have a favorite track on this album. How could I? When I put this CD in, I have to listen to every single track in order like a favorite film. There's no one segment to love because it's all that good. But for the sake of those few people unfamiliar with this album, I'm going to post a few of tracks. Let's start with "Enfilade." That "freight train is coming" is all I have to mention about this song. Turn this song up and let it kick you square in the teeth.
To be completely honest, I've yet to really figure out what this album is talking about. I get the sense it's about a big brother 1984 situation. Maybe that's it's most surprising charm. Not sure how they did it, as I sing back almost every lyric word for word yet having little clue what it all means. Awesome. "Quarantined" is one hell of a jam. I love the line, "a single fire can cause a spectral fire."
"One Armed Scissor" was the only official single release from the album that I can recall. I can't figure out why this song was the top choice for singles. Not to say it isn't good as the rest of the album. I guess it's hard to define this album by one sound alone and this song has possibly the easiest sound for the masses. I think I watched this video first on Fuse TV. We didn't have YouTube then. The days of watching videos on TV. Them were the days. Beyond all the noise and weird lyrics, this band can seriously play their instruments.
Glad I got that rant about one of my top 10 favorite albums of all time out of the way. If someone out there hasn't listened to this album before, buy this ASAP and be ready to have the walls cave in as you play it. And to leave you with a final image and sound, here' s a live song from the band. That is what we call a performance. Chaos, melody and madness.
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