Recorded live at The Metro in Chicago, on November 11, 1998, this album captures The Legendary Pink Dots in very fine form, if not in very good sound. The set list features a nice cross-section of the band’s ‘90s output, with songs taken from the albums Hallway of the Gods, Crushed Velvet Apocalypse, and The Maria Dimension, among others, plus a song (“Pain Bubbles”) that would end up on their next studio album, the superb A Perfect Mystery. The line-up for this tour consisted of Edward Ka-Spel, Phil Knight, Edwin van Trippenhof, Ryan Moore, and Neils van Hoornblower. Highlights abound, such as Van Trippenhof’s raging guitar solo in “Grain Kings ’98,” but the real treat is the 10-minute “Saucers Over Chicago,” a version of “The Saucers Are Coming” adapted for the occasion, a reverse-take of sorts on Welles’ War of the Worlds. “Andromeda” also gets a powerful treatment, bringing the album to a close on a bombastic note. In terms of material performed and performance quality, Live at the Metro beats Farewell, Milky Way, released a year later though recorded four years earlier. However, sound quality-wise, the situation is inverted, as Live at the Metro sounds rather hollow, with too much echo. Despite this shortcoming, it makes for a very fine live document that fans will appreciate. But newcomers are better off trying some of the group’s highest-rated studio efforts before dipping their ears into this release.

by François Couture
(The date of this review is unknown)

Something I’ve noticed with bands who have a vast, expansive back catalogue of albums such as the Legendary Pink Dots is that generally the albums you pick up first in your collection are the ones that are the most endearing and enduring. If I recall correctly, The Golden Age was perhaps the second Dots album I ever purchased and to this day it remains one of my favorites. There is a certain charm to this record, perhaps in the warm combination of the keyboards and violin of Patrick Wright (whose contributions to the Dots in the 80’s represent some of my favorite material). The main focal point of the album is the haunting, waltz based violin epic of “Hotel Noir”. Featuring a great Ka-Spell narrative and smartly composed music, this is easily one of the best songs in the Dots history. Some of the other great tracks on the album are “The More It Changes”, “Black List”, “The Month After” and “Methods”. The album flows through a more accessible, quaint and charming sound to very abstract soundscapes and then right back into safe ground again. Regardless of all else, The Golden Age is highly responsible for capturing my initial interest in the Legendary Pink Dots and gets high praise, if nothing else, for that.

An exceptionally fine piece of work from the mid-era Legendary Pink Dots. Easily the best thing about this period for the Dots is the lush and remarkable violin of Patrick Wright and the way the band so flawlessly melds it into their psychedelic pop format. Tracks like “True Love”, “Under Glass” and “The Plasma Twins” are instantly memorable, profound and lush with a full sound. Compared to some of the other Dots albums, this one is definitely more pop-oriented, though still containing the signature Dots sound. It is certainly an album that will continually grow on you, the same way The Golden Age (released not long afterwards) did. Good, good stuff.

Legendary Pink Dots: Nemesis Online
[Soleilmoon; 1998]
Rating: 7.5

Since their first recordings dating back to 1982, the Legendary Pink Dots have been making introspective and experimental music questioning the concepts of religion, science fiction, nature, politics, thought, emotion, and self. Utilizing glacial rhythms, concentrating on keyboard sounds that other musicians discard as unusable, and topping it all off with the eerily haunting voice of Edward Ka-Spel (credited here as Prophet Qa’Sepel) the Legendary Pink Dots have managed to worm themselves into a niche solely their own. Listening to their music is more a long, insane, hallucinogenic acid trip through a demented carnival funhouse than it is a “relaxing” musical experience, but all the same, there’s something seductive and alluring about it all. Which leaves to question why it’s so popular amongst industrial music fans.

Perhaps it’s Ka-Spel’s past collaboration with Cevin Cey of Skinny Puppy for the Teargarden project; perhaps it’s the continuing rumors of a nationwide tour with Download. Whatever the case, the band seems to attract a rather unlikely audience, and a rather dedicated one at that. Something that’s absolutely true about the band’s music is that you either get it or you don’t. The inexperienced listener may write the music off as pretentious and overdone, but once you fall into its power, the music will take control. Having been one of the inexperienced myself, I actually walked out of the last Legendary Pink Dots show I attended after only four songs, rather than risk falling asleep.

The Legendary Pink Dots’ latest hypnosis device, Nemesis Online, continues the Holland-based outfit’s musical tradition of toying with the untraditional. Jangly, jazzy, reverbed guitars float over a slow cabaret swing of various unidentifiable percussive noises, aptly sung and narrated by Ka-Spel as if he were telling a mystery story in “Dissonance”, which kicks off the record with what would be the perfect background music for a Mike Hammer film set in 2034. “As Long As It’s Purple and Green” later moves the listener into that aforementioned acid trip, creating a modern electronic version of psych-rock.

Each song is a different experience. Of course, some are more compelling than others, but each is distinct. One bit of warning is that unless you’re already a dedicated fan, this isn’t the sort of album that you’ll put into your player and immediately start dancing around to. But once you’re baited, the genius of the exotic structures will unfold in your brain like the most powerful of narcotics, and the hypnosis will settle in.

– Skaht Hansen, December 1, 1998

Legendary Pink Dots

Since moody goth is all the rage again, may we suggest you check out an act that’s not getting back together just to cash in on the retro flavor of the month. The Legendary Pink Dots, an Amsterdam-based synth outfit (members of whom have been associated with ex-members of Skinny Puppy) concoct electronic music much more dank than their happy moniker would suggest. Nemesis Online (on the delightfully named Soleilmoon label), rumored to be like the band’s 40th release over the course of 15 years and 30-odd members, is an odd combination of dark synth and ritualistic pagan chanting.

– Brian Howard

Wed., Oct. 21, with Twilight Circus and Dub Sound System, Upstairs at Nick’s, 16 S. Second St., 928-0665.

Another fine reissue of an early Dots LP, Curse contains much the same mood and psychedelic style that marked most of the early days of the band. Though limited somewhat by fairly cheap technology, the Dots have always been remarkable in their ability to craft entrancing songs no matter what instruments were at their disposal. Creativity has long been their calling card. Much of Curse is in the same field as 80’s new wave, as “Wall Purges Night” or “Aarzhklahh olgevezh” demonstrate. But as with much of their early material, the certain innocence to the music entails a lot of simple catchiness. “Doll’s House” and “Lisa’s Party” both are very memorable pieces. As with many of the early Dots albums, Curse is great for historical purposes and the occasional fun listen.

Source: http://www.ssmt-reviews.com/artist/legend.html