Out Of The Vaults #2 - Quicksand - Manic Compression

In our new apartment there is one wall with 10 cabinets stacked from floor to ceiling with a sliding library style ladder to reach the high ones. These cabinets were custom built by a previous owner. Inside each cabinet is four shelves, each one the perfect width for a CD. This is what sold me on the apartment.These are the "Vaults" were the music is stored.

Each week or so I will ask my wife to dive deep into the cabinets and pull out a random CD. The chosen album will then be given to me and I will "muse" on the disc for awhile in this blog no matter how good, bad, or embarrassing the chosen disc is. Where did I buy it, how old was I, first reaction to hearing the album, do I still listen to it today and anywhere else my stream of conscious will take me in regards to the "Out Of The Vaults" weekly pick.

Out Of The Vaults #2 - Quicksand - Manic Compression

If my wife had come out of "The Vaults" with Quicksand's debut Ep I could have said how the first time I saw Quicksand live I had no idea who they were. It was at the 9:30 club and the Quicksand was opening for the band Helmet. I also would have to add  that when leader Walter Schreifels and the rest of the band began playing they were so tight I was immediately hooked. I could not leave out  how halfway through their set guitarist Tom Capone accidentally knocked over his amp sending it off the stage. I caught the amp as  it made it's way over the edge and to thank me Tom gave me a copy of Quicksand's then brand new 1990 debut Ep'

But unfortunately that Ep was not the disc that was picked.

 If my wife had come out of "The Vaults" with Quicksand's first album, the 1993  Slip I could have gone on to say how unbelievable the album was. I definitely would have talked about how every song from the lead off track "Fazer" all the way through the closer "Transparent" is  chock full of angular guitars and hidden metallic hooks that  run smoothly from one song right into the next . I couldn't leave out  fact that every time I am making a mix tape/cd play list of instrumentals to listen to while writing or studying  Slip's "Baphomet"  is one of the first tracks I go for. I also would  have mentioned the first time my ears took in this incredible debut album was when we played and advance copy over the loudspeakers of one of our C.W. Post auditoriums prior to a spoken word performance by Henry Rollins. A very short Henry Rollins, I found out that day as he stood next to me.

 If Slip had been the pick I would definitely need to relay how this album was a mainstay in my CD player for well over a decade and still gets taken out every few weeks to blast over my headphones. 

But unfortunately  Slip was not the disc that was picked.either.

The Cd that was picked was Quicksand's second album Manic Compression.

When this album came out I had extremely high hopes for it. For the past two years I had been listening to Slip non stop.

During the Winter of 1995, 120 Minutes (MTV Alternative show) aired an interview with the band with famed New York Hardcore producer Don Fury. The interview was held at the New York City location of The Royal Canadian Pancake House. While the band ate their obnoxiously large pancakes they talked about the new album and revealed the fact that Don Fury had once done time in the band Twisted Sister. Then they  premiered the video for the single "Thorn In My Side". The video which had the band driving around New York City in go-karts, was the perfect image for the song that definitely was driving  and  had hooks with  the great Quicksand way of going to the edge of becoming Metal without going over it. The song and video was awesome.  I couldn't wait for the album to be released.

The album starts off with "Backwards". It is a basic Quicksand song incorporating all the elements that made Quicksand stand out from other bands. All the elements many bands would try to copy over  the next few years. Quicksand was back.

Then from the first few guitar riffs, the second song "Delusional" reminded me instantly of the Beatles's "Come Together". Maybe it wasn't intended but the whole song does sound so much like the Beatles's track I am a bit surprised Michael Jackson did not come after the band for royalties.The next two tracks both come off a bit like a train wreck with awkward choruses fighting it out with repetitive guitar riffs.

Tracks 6 and 7  turned out to be decent Quicksand songs. They have rising guitars here and there plus a few hooks. What takes away from these songs is the production. There is no bottom end. The songs  sound two dimensional. They do not have the full 3-D sound displayed so awesomely in Slip's tracks "Dine Alone" and "Freezing Process" where you can hear each instrument clearly coming from every direction. Although Wharton Tiers (Manic Compression's producer) may have done some great jobs for Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine, he appears to have not been the right choice for Walter and crew.

Halfway through the album "Thorn In My Side" finally appears and right away the image of the band driving around the city I loved instantly comes to mind.

The following track "Landmine spring" you can hear the hooks trying to come through but they have to struggle to find they way out of the way out front heavy guitar sounds and Walter's vocals. Track 8 "Blister" proves to be the best song on the record. Definitely the old school Quicksand sound but kicked up another notch. The rest of the album follows suit with the other lesser songs on the album. Except "East 3rd St" which automatically gets a few extra points from me for being named after a new York City Street. A street I would actually live on 8 years later.

Overall Manic Compression is not too bad of an album. The songs get repetitive a lot of the time but they are decent songs. Except of course "Thorn In My Side" and "Blister" which are awesome songs.

When this album came out the biggest problem for me was that it wasn't a bad album but that it was following a GREAT album. After a few years of giving Manic Compression chances, somewhere down the line a few years later this disc was traded in to a used CD store.

But of course we can't end there. This is a POSITIVE music blog.

A few years back while scanning through the 99 Cent Cd bins at Academy Music I ran across a used copy of Quicksand's Manic Compression. At such a low price i had to pick it up and give it another shot. With the extremely high expectations I had 15 years ago for this album now long gone, I can really appreciate this album by one of hardcore's defining bands. Even through I mainly only listen to "Thorn In My Side" and "Blister" the whole album does remain on my iPod


Now let's check out that awesome "Thorn In My Side" Video