Antietam - Rope-A-Dope (c) 1994 Homestead Records
Artist....: Antietam
Album.....: Rope-A-Dope
Type......: Album
Source....: CDDA
Tracks....: 10
Genre.....: Indie
Label.....: Homestead Records
Catalogue#: HMS218
Encoder...: LAME 3.97
Quality...: VBR kbps / 44.1KHz / Joint-Stereo
URL.......: http://www.answers.com/topic/rope-a-dope-rock-album?cat
Tracklist:
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01 Hands Down 03:32
02 What She Will 05:05
03 Pine 04:53
04 Certain Muse 03:00
05 Hardly Believe 04:37
06 Graveyard 03:26
07 Rope-A-Dope 03:01
08 Leave Home 06:09
09 Betwixt 04:34
10 Silver Solace 10:40
Total:73,10 MB/ 48:57 min
Release Notes:
--------------
An unjustly overlooked piece of mid-'90s indie rock, the final album by
the Kentucky-to-New York transplants Antietam has it all: fiery playing
(frontwoman Tara Key is one of the great guitarists of her generation),
powerful songs, and enough diversity to keep from sounding like one
noisy guitar rave-up after another the way that, say, Dinosaur Jr.'s
albums often did. Key's guitar playing most often sounds like a
post-punk Neil Young in full shred mode, but she's equally adept at
pure atmospherics, as on the quieter moments of the near-psychedelic
"Pine." If Yo La Tengo (whose Ira Kaplan adds some smoking organ work
to the massively powerful opener "Hands Down") were more aggressive and
less interested in Velvets-style harmonics, they would sound like
Antietam. Unlike previous Antietam albums, where Key handled all the
lead vocals, her two bandmates sing a pair of tunes apiece. Drummer
Josh Madell is a much better percussionist than he is a singer, but his
vocals on "What She Will" and "Leave Home" are atmospheric
afterthoughts buried deep in the mix. Bassist Tim Harris has a more
pleasant voice, and his lead vocals on "Certain Muse" (along with his
distinctive cello touches) help turn the Feelies-like tune into the
album's most immediately catchy song. The album's high point, and
possibly the best thing Antietam ever did, is the 11-minute closer
"Silver Solace," which builds and ebbs with structural grace and
contains some of Key's most remarkable singing and soloing. With the
grace note of one 1996 single, "Silver Solace" caps Antietam's career;
although Harris and Madell would continue as her collaborators, Key
would begin her solo career with the next year's Bourbon County. ~
Stewart Mason, All Music Guide