Shaded Pain

Shaded Pain
Studio album by Lifesavers Underground
Released 1987
Recorded 1987
Genre Gothic rock, post-punk
Length 37:49
Label Frontline Records
Producer Chris Brigandi
Lifesavers Underground chronology
A Kiss of Life
(1986)		 Shaded Pain
(1987)		 Wakin' Up the Dead
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Shaded Pain is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Lifesavers Underground, released in 1987 on Frontline Records. A much different effort from their other releases before or since, Shaded Pain took a darker gothic rock direction from their previous pop punk sound, and features bleak, death-obsessed lyrics. Although misunderstood by many critics at the time, the album has attained a status of a cult classic. Later, the critics consider the album to be the band's finest effort and one of the best albums of the year it was released.[2]

Recording

Produced by Chris Brigandi, featuring dark post-punk guitars with raw, echoed chords, rich soundscapes, and introspective, death-obsessed lyrics, the album created a controversy when it was released: listeners expecting a more happy-sounding punk rock album were horrified by the dark output, resulting with enormous amounts of the album being returned to the record company. Shaded Pain instead recalls the same sort of hollow, threatening darkness. Michael Knott's vocals combine styles from possessed howling ato shrieking through driving songs such as “Die Baby Die” and moaning like a "prophet of doom" in the chilling “Bye Bye Colour.” There is no much absolution on Shaded Pain, just endless emptiness. Even the up-tempo “Our Time Has Come” is built around the grim chorus: “Our time has come to kiss the cleaver.” Despite this, the record still sounds like a burst of creative energy, Brian Doidge’s guitar screaming like a rabid swine and Knott’s haunting voice is the embodiment of regret and self-loathing.[3]

Track listing

All songs written by Michael Knott, except where stated otherwise
  1. "Jordan River" (3:55)
  2. "Bye Bye Colour" (4:02)
  3. "Die Baby Die" (2:25)
  4. "Lonely Boy" (Knott, Doidge) (3:49)
  5. "Our Time has Come" (3:37)
  6. "Tether to Tassel" (3:36)
  7. "I'm Torn" (3:52)
  8. "Plague of Flies" (Knott, Doidge, Lee) (1:27)
  9. "More to Life" (Knott, Doidge) (3:39)
  10. "Shaded Pain" (4:10)

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ graydot, Pneumatic Tire
  3. ↑ allmusic ((( Shaded Pain > Overview )))
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