Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting (1990/2017) [Official Digital Download 24/192]

Bloodletting, Concrete Blonde’s third album, gave the band their first mainstream hit, making them one of the most popular alternative rock bands of the early 90s. Featuring guests such as Steve Wynn, Bloodletting was a gothic tapestry of danger, vampires, alcoholism and passion. Hit single Joey reached #19 on Billboard s pop singles chart, and the album was certified Gold. This reissue features a first-time-ever remastering, as well as long out-of-print B-sides. Born out of the early 1980s Los Angeles post-punk scene along with bands such as X, Wall of Voodoo and the Go-Gos, Concrete Blonde got their start as Dream 6 and signed with IRS Records, where labelmate Michael Stipe of R.E.M. suggested they change their name to Concrete Blonde. Their eponymous debut album came out in 1987, and was followed by Free (1989), which spawned the college radio hit God Is A Bullet. First time this album has ever been remastered. Transfers taken directly from the original master tapes. This reissue contains six rarities as bonus tracks: I Want You, the long unavailable B-side of the single version of Joey, other B-sides from the period and a previously unreleased French-language version of the title track. Features a 12-page booklet with lyrics, a new essay and rare photos.

Though the sudden embrace of the trappings of goth culture via Anne Rice was a bit odd, given Napolitano's long-standing fascination with both Catholic and Mexican imagery (and the elements of sex and death prevalent in both) it wasn't too strange. Her songwriting and singing focus remains much more roots-oriented, as the opening strut/stroll of "Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)" makes clear. Not that she and the band can't kick out the jams as well – immediately following that is "The Sky Is a Poisonous Garden," a punk-speed thrash with deliciously decadent imagery to boot. The most well known song was "Joey," which actually got some top 40 airplay; while it has a certain catchiness to it, ultimately it comes off as a less successful Heart song from the same era, which is saying something. Far more successful is nearly everything else on the album, from the dark chime of "Caroline," addressing a departed friend, to the soothing "Lullabye," which far from being a mere kiddie tune is a great love song with some fantastic guitar from Mankey. R.E.M.'s Peter Buck adds mandolin to "Darkening of the Light," which adds to the song's mysterious, haunting edge, while "I Don't Need a Hero" is barely there, the softest of music accompanying Napolitano's lyric. Her singing throughout Bloodletting is passionate and catchy, with a deep throaty ache on many cuts. Everything wraps up with a version of Andy Prieboy's "Tomorrow, Wendy." Having done a duet with him on his own recording of the song, she takes full lead here, delivering a bravura performance of the bitter, heartbreaking lyric.

Tracklist:

01. Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)
02. The Sky Is A Poisonous Garden
03. Caroline
04. Darkening Of The Light
05. I Don't Need A Hero
06. Days And Days
07. The Beast
08. Lullabye
09. Joey
10. Tomorrow, Wendy

Personnel:

Johnette Napolitano - vocals, bass guitar
James Mankey - guitars, bass guitar
Paul Thompson - drums
Peter Buck - mandolin on "Darkening of the Light"
Andy Prieboy - keyboards on "Tomorrow, Wendy"
Gail Ann Dorsey - bass on "Tomorrow, Wendy"
Steve Wynn - vocals on "Bloodletting (the Vampire song)"
John Keane - slide guitar on "Darkening of the Light"



All thanks go to the original releaser