Marquee Moon – Television (Marquee Moon, 1977)
Alright we all know how creative Television were and how revolutionary and groundbreaking their debut album Marquee was, but yet, the music has aged terribly like of course most 70's punk has. With all that influence-type nonsense out of the way, let's just analyse the track musically.
Now by aged, one usually means that listening to Television's music by todays standards is a bit lame. And of course, the ten minute epic title track is no exception. The main culprits for this connotation are the quirky vocals and the over the top use of consonant chords and melodies throughout the track. But does this really mean the track itself is completely terrible? Well, surprisingly: no. The track does have its up points which are catchy, fun and make for an enjoyable listen. But sadly, there are many problems with the track, but this doesn't take much away from the memorable moments.
The intro begins with Verlaine (guitars) playing solo in 4/4 a mid-tempo double-timed guitar riff comprising of two chords (which interplays major fourths) that hits on the first and third beats in the left channel. This immediately hits the listener with a lively mood and after four measures a trilled guitar pattern in the right channel acting as a counter melody, rides through the third and fourth beats in syncopation. After another four measures, interestingly, the bass makes its appearance on the fourth beat playing a two-note bass riff that surrounds the second and fourth beats. When the drums come in afterwards also on the fourth beat, the listener is hit with an hypnotic cluster of sound that is actually quite appealing and draws you in.
When Verlaine starts singing his trademark poetry (his load is big) the music starts to sustain noticeably with the use of repeating the aforementioned pattern. When the first change occurs, it seems almost forced and awkward with silly descending guitar notes as it links into slightly different melodies and tonal colour from the vocals. But pretty soon we're back into more of the same when verse two hits us, and after this there's more of the same tacked on changes.
The first guitar solo at 2:58 is followed by a nice use of dynamics with a short rest. The solo is a good one but short and perhaps a little tacky. When we reach verse three, the listener has probably had enough of the repetition already and is probably ready to drown.
The first major change utilises a break in the music but once again, the listener is hit with the same riff from the introduction. But this allows for Verlaine to let loose and start jamming but seems to get slightly carried away. Nevertheless, the solo has proven to be one of the great guitar moments in rock history. It concludes with silly ascending chords (which repeat almost childishly) that would probably cause the listener seizers if they were to listen to the track several times in a row.
After that annoyance there is a beautiful part on the keys played also by Verlaine and closer listens would reveal the interesting choice of notes and trills employed which is in stark contract with the guitars playing dissonant notes in syncopation in the background. After a powerful abrupt conclusion, it falls silent, and soon the drums kick in again playing solo for two measures, then joined by the bass. And we're once again brought back to the main riff which is identical to the intro except that the drums take the turn to come in first this time. After a final verse, things slow down, and you wouldn't even call it an actual outro, it's almost as if the musicians ran out of ideas and thought that the three minute jam session was enough to make this track a timeless classic. The sad thing, is that this has proven to be true by many critics, but not this one.
Rating: 3.7/10
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