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Jul 10, 2014 The Brian Jonestown Massacre By Frank Valish

Revelation is the 14th album by Anton Newcombe and his Brian Jonestown Massacre, and the first to be fully recorded and produced at Newcombe’s Berlin recording studio. In typically atypical Newcombe fashion, the album begins with a song sung entirely in Swedish by an artist named Joakim Åhlund. Aside from guitar from original Brian Jonestown Massacre bandmate Ricky Maymi and minimal contributions by a couple guest musicians, Newcombe plays everything on the album himself.

It may be a surprise how solid Revelation is, especially coming from a man who often expresses himself so outlandishly in the press. However, Newcombe’s musical gift has never been in question, so if one separates the man portrayed by the media from the albums he generates, one will be pleasantly and continually pleased.

As for Revelation, it stands with Brian Jonestown Massacre’s best. “Unknown” is just under two minutes of demented Rolling Stones-esque rock that harks back to the best of the band’s early work. “Memory Camp” rides on a noodly guitar riff, slowed for perfect psychedelic effect, embedding the listener in a fantastic haze that only disappoints when the song ends after a whopping five-and-a-half minutes. “Second Sighting” is all acoustic instrumental beauty, led by gently-picked guitar and enchanting melodic lines played by flute. “Memorymix” almost sounds like it was made for the dancefloor, with its electronic-sounding groove and repetitive drums, and “Nightbird” is practically folk music.

In some ways, Revelation plays like a hodgepodge. However, it is a beautiful hodgepodge, a hodgepodge of everything Newcombe does best and has spent the last 20 years perfecting. (www.brianjonestownmassacre.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10