Their debut was a seminal Indie college radio release. How did Violent Femmes follow it up?
Violent Femmes – Hallowed Ground – 1984 (iTunes)
For my money, Hallowed Ground is Violent Femmes best work. It is one of the darkest albums (Country Death Song, a powerfully crafted masterstroke of familial murder that should horror and scare you) and it’s also a Christian Rock Record (Jesus Walking on the Water, I hear the Rain, It’s Gonna Rain).
The Horns of Dilemma appear here and really take the elegiac Black Girls to a height I couldn’t have expected but, in retrospect, should have. There’s a freaking Jew’s Harp on that song!
While Hallowed Ground may not be as accessible as the debut (on the surface) one listen and you can’t help but be hooked.
The torture is still here, the unease. But, then Gano turns around and gives us a lovely ballad in “I Know But I’m Sorry to Say”.
The album is all over the place but it’s really not. Just when you get a tongue lashing lesson the band turns around with “Sweet Misery Blues” to show that Gordon is the same guy. He’s still falling in love and desperate. But, he’s not a high school kid begging for the car anymore. Instead, he’s more balladeer. And he believes in God. Which just makes his tortured soul that much more intense to me.
The trio of religious songs do nothing but elevate Hallowed Ground. It’s the EXACT kind of Sophomore album every band should aspire to.
Grade A+
A Side: Country Death Song, Jesus Walking on the Water, It’s Gonna Rain, Black Girls,
BlindSide: Never Tell, Hallowed Ground, I know it’s true but I’m Sorry to Say
DownSide: Nope, nothing to report here.
