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The Road Leads Where It's Led

Secret Machines - The Road Leads Where It's Led Audio CD

A fair review of the Secret Machines "The Road Leads Where It's Led" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Secret Machines reviews here, or go back to the Secret Machines tabs.

Band: Secret Machines
Title: The Road Leads Where It's Led
Rating:

Release Date: 2005-06-07
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Road Leads Where It's Led 2: Better Bring Your Friends 3: Astral Weeks 4: Money (That's What I Thought) 5: Girl From the North Country 6: De Luxe (Immer Wieder)

So THIS is how they got the psychedelic rep...
Forget all these fashion poseurs and retro-bands that can't seem to make the leap past 1999. I think Secret Machines may be the next great band to rise from the New York scene. The Secret Machines delivered the goods on "Now Here Is Nowhere," and this time filler EP will have to do till the next album arrives.

It starts off with a trimmed down version of "The Road Leads Where It's Led" (I guess radio still fears intros longer than 20 seconds) and features a new song that is about on a par with the debut album's material. Then things take a left turn near Saturn and veer into space mode. Four covers that dissect their originals and unearth the origins of SM's undeserved comparisons to Pink Floyd (frankly, I still think Secret Machines is a gutsier version of Wilco). They saturate Van Morrison's mystical "Astral Weeks" with reverberated metallic atmosphere. They slow down the classic Motown oldie "Money (That's What I Want)" so much that you'd never recognize it except for the lyric.

Then they all but eclipse Bob Dylan by turning "Girl From The North Country" into some kind of cosmic freaky nine minute dirge. It completely transforms the song and claims it. To me, that's a skill to hallmark a great band. Just when you think it couldn't get any weirder, they follow that with an obscure German electronic band, Harmonium, and cover "(De Luxe) Immer Wieder" in its original German. It's a novel and risky move, and Secret Machines pull it off. It makes this EP a worthy collector's piece, and whets my appetite for the next album.

the complete
Once the dust has cleared one
of the best bands is The Secret Machines. The New York City zeitgeist has come and gone. We have had five years of bands who
think they are the Velvet Underground or Joy Division. People want more than
retro rehash. People who don't live in NYC don't relate to these cool bands
that sing about cops, gutters and subways. Who cares? The Secret Machines are
definitely are the leaders of the second wave of New York based bands who have
been playing more musical and difficult songs. Whether you want to call it
"progressive" or "Psychedelic Music" it doesn't matter. This EP is really a long
single with some cover tunes. "Better Bring Your Friends" is a song they
have been playing live recently. Then there are songs by Van Morrison, Bob Dylan,
and Harmonia. There is even a Motown song by Barry Gordy Jr. I couldn't
imagine any of the cool NYC bands playing any of this stuff. I don't think that
most of them would be capable. Only maybe Mercury Rev or Arcade Fire could pull
off this sort of record. I look forward to their next record. The Secret
Machines could be a band that could put out four or five great albums in the next
ten years.
.

Mood piece companion to "Now Here is Nowhere" album
"The Road Leads Where It's Led" (6 tracks, 37 min. A year after the release of the Secret Machines' second album "Now Here is Nowhere" comes this EP, offering one new song and 4 covers. ) starts off with the title track, taken from the album. It's not the best track on that album, but what's really annoying is that the opening 30 sec. instrumental has been chopped off. "Better Bring Your Friends" is the new song, and ok, but nothing remarkable.

This EP is worth seeking out, though, for the 4 cover songs. There is Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks", which is transferred to a heavier beat. Motown's "Money (That's What I Want)" is an excellent 7 min. slowburner. But for the words you wouldn't recognize the tune, but it's excellent. The German band Harmonia "(De Luxe) Immer Wieder" is done very well. The "piece-de-resistance" on here, however, is a 9 min. cover of Dylan's "Girl From the North Country", a magnificant introverted spacey mood piece, just awesome, and worth the purchase for this alone. You will find no jubilant tracks on this EP like "First Wave Intact" or "Sad and Lonely" from the album, this EP is a primarily a mood piece.

"Now Here Is Nowhere" was one of my top albums of 2004. Can't wait for the next proper album from these guys, presumably in 2006. Meanwhile we will do with this stopgap. And if you have a chance to see the Secret Machines live, don't miss them, they are one of the top live acts today, really. (They are touring this summer with Kings of Leon, no less!).

Good interim release for a band on the way up
This EP may slip under the radar, since it is comprised of mainly covers, and an abbreviated version of "The Road Leads Where It's Led" from the previous album- this is a bit of a puzzle. Five stars for the band's next full-length studio release (I hope!). . . . great song, but why cut out the album intro?? The good news is that the cover songs are great. TSM have performed all of them while touring tirelessly, and it is good to have them all on one disc, since they are otherwise scattered on import EPs. "Immer Wieder (De Luxe)" is simply majestic, and "Girl from the North Country" is given a startling psychedelic treatment awash with keyboards and processed guitar, all melded together with a melancholy vocal. . . . this band is intelligent, incredibly musical, and deserves the raves they are receiving. This album will keep the fans happy while awaiting the new album, and may win them some new admirers along the way.

Worth the cover charge...
Everyone has been to the pub/bar down the road and had to endure that awful cover of Have You Ever Seen the Rain, which somehow manages to completely remove all semblance of what made the song great (anyone ever seen the band Blueshammer in the movie Ghost World?). I'm not one who usually responds favorably to covers. Sometimes, if you are lucky enough, a band will even lay the song down on record, so you can take it home with you to use the following morning when you need to induce vomiting. Occasionally, though, a great band will take hold of a great song and make it all their own. The Beatles, The Stones and Bob Dylan were all masters of this. Of course, the father, the son and the Holy Ghost can bless not every band, so, most covers are simply bad homage. When I saw the new Ep by the Secret Machines yesterday at my local record store, I was hesitant. I enjoyed the self-titled second record, but didn't think it was worth $10 to buy an Ep of only six songs that were mostly covers. Then I turned the CD over to reveal that the Machines had chosen to cover one of my favorite not-as-well-known golden nuggets in Van Morrison's Astral Weeks. The song comes from my personal favorite album of the same name. I got to thinking, what is a band like the Secret Machines doing covering Van Morrison? I then looked further down at the track listing and found that they also had chosen Girl From the North Country by Bob Dylan. Girl From the North Country? That is a folk song, a country song (see the version with Johnny Cash) and one of my favorite songs of all time. My intrigue was too great, and I had to buy it. I immediately threw the CD in my player and skipped to song three. While the cover of Astral Weeks was certainly different, it really didn't capture any of the mystiques that the original so greatly conveyed. I liked it, but didn't think that I would find myself hitting repeat over and over again. Girl From the North Country, however, struck me like an hour-long sunrise. It sounds like the Johnny Cash version sung in outer space and quite possibly, may lay claim to being a quintessential version of the song. It is not better than the original and never could be, but it certainly can stop your thoughts in traffic. If you take that with the already worthwhile original songs, you have an Ep that certainly will be one of the year's true unexpected surprises.

You can see a complete list of all Secret Machines discography, or go back to the Secret Machines tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.