PRICE:
$23.50
IN STOCK
ARTIST
TITLE
Devil's Road (Deluxe Edition)
FORMAT
2CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
GR 810CD GR 810CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
7/8/2014

Deluxe reissue of the 1996 classic from The Walkabouts, with re-worked and extended artwork plus a bonus CD containing five unreleased tracks from that period. Comes in a multifold digipak with a 16-page booklet. "For 30 years, The Walkabouts have written and sung about one of their main topics: America -- the origin and home of rock'n'roll. The Walkabouts scrutinize America as a mythic place spotlighted by desires and hopes, but also contradictions and inconsistencies. Singer-songwriter Chris Eckman and Carla Torgerson founded The Walkabouts in 1984 in Seattle. 1989 saw the release of their Sub Pop debut, finding themselves the only non-grunge band next to the likes of Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney. Ironically enough, the sound of The Walkabouts, the mixing of folk, Americana and country with the knowledge and energy of punk, survived the grunge hype of the '90s and became one of the most important and enduring musical genres of the following decades. In 1992, The Walkabouts and Sub Pop split but the band joined forces with Sub Pop Europe represented by Glitterhouse Records in Beverungen, Germany. After releasing two albums -- Devil's Road (1996) and Nighttown (1997) -- with Virgin Records, The Walkabouts returned again to their home Glitterhouse and have remained there from 1999 until today. 1996: The Walkabouts are standing at the edge of their career. Glitterhouse isn't the distribution partner of Sub Pop anymore and because of these changes the bond breaks and the band are in need of a new label. At that time, major labels still had a strong interest in signing indie-bands, and were open to investing reasonable amounts of money into their careers. Acts with an underground reputation were added to these label's rosters in order to raise the label's artistic profile and credibility. And so The Walkabouts were drafted, and in 1996 Devil's Road saw the light of day as the first of their two albums recorded for Virgin Records. Based on the higher production budget that the major-label provided, the band realized their long-held dream and added string arrangements to their somber folk-country ballads and dust-dry mid-tempo rockers. In cooperation with arranger Mark Nichols and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the strings were recorded in a radio studio in Warsaw that was still very 'Eastern Bloc.' Especially compared to Eckman's and Torgerson's rather stripped-down side project of those days, Chris & Carla, these songs come through almost overblown. But one has to admit something that goes for all The Walkabouts' albums: Devil's Road is another cornerstone on the neverending road the band has followed in search of the perfect song." --Albert Koch