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Oct 30, 2023 Web Exclusive By Frank Valish

The Night is the last Morphine album, released in 2000, posthumously after the tragic on-stage death of frontman Mark Sandman. And in some ways, the album is the band’s most fully realized work.

Like the band’s previous album, Like Swimming, there are no rollicking rockers, no “Honey White,” no “Thursday.” Nothing exactly like what brought the band to the fore of the alternative “scene” in the ‘90s. The Night is darker. More dense perhaps. Sandman’s vocals are more forward in the mix, demystifying the band’s aura to a certain extent while also allowing one to get closer, to interact more with the material, to feel maybe a deeper connection.

The title track finds Sandman singing for his muse, Lilah, whom he describes as “the night,” singing, “I hope you’re waiting for me, ‘cause I can’t make it on my own.” A descending piano line briefly sneaks into the low end-and-sax drama of “Souvenir,” echoing inconsequentiality: “A souvenir of nowhere, somewhere I’ve never been before. I dropped it on the floor.” “Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer” describes a party, perhaps at the end of the world by the sound of downcast and dirty, albeit undeniably funky instrumentation, Sandman singing, “By the time Priscilla put on the Al Green on, the bottle was gone.” And this is all in the album’s first four songs.

Reissued in gatefold over two beautiful 45 rpm slabs of 180-gram colored vinyl by Light In the Attic imprint Modern Classics Recordings, The Night pops from the player, reasserting itself as one of the crowning achievements in Morphine’s all too short career. Paired with a generous liner note booklet with detailed essay, annotated map of significant locations in the band’s hometown of Cambridge, MA, and lyrics to the album’s songs, this reissue is true manna. It’s such a tragedy that Morphine’s time ended the way it did. This band should have lived forever. We’ll have to suffice to listen to albums like The Night over and over until the grooves wear out. (www.morphineband.com) (www.lightintheattic.net)

Author rating: 8/10