The Rain Parade - reassessed

[runcible]

I started playing these guys again recently and once again wondered why they aren't name-dropped more these days. For a band with a surprisingly small back catalogue I think they are still very relevant today. A little searching revealed a live album that I'd somehow missed - 'Perfume River' - which is next to impossible to find of course.

A chance TV encounter in 1985 of them playing 'Depending On You' on Whistle Test made a serious impact on me. By that point their great moment had passed and they were into their decline, but the album they were promoting, their 2nd - 'Crashing Dream' - contains many very enjoyable moments. I went travelling in the late 80s but came across a copy of Bucketful of Brains magazine when I was in Australia, and the Rain Parade's debut 'Emergency Third Rail Power Trip' came top of a readers poll of 'albums of the 80's' so I bought it straightaway and have been enjoying over in the last 20 years or so. Listening to it now I find it hard to fault musically - the variety of music it contains and the high degree of musicianship contribute to something I consider an important part of my musical appreciation. The CD I have has the EP 'Explosions In The Glass Palace' tacked on the end. This was made after David Roback (he of Opal and Mazzy Star) left the band and is absolutely superb, possibly even better than the album. There's also the live album 'Beyond The Sunset' which is quite good although Perfume River is better. Sadly the attention they richly deserved wasn't to be and contemporaries like The Bangles (a bizarre association I know) were what people wanted instead.

We all know about Mazzy Star but most of the remaining members of The Rain Parade turned up in Viva Saturn, a 2nd tier version of the Rain Parade. One good thing is that a lot of the bits and bobs left over after the band's demise were compiled on the fantastic 'Demolition' album. It even contains the original Whistle Test clip I saw all those years ago, as well as some really psychedelic stuff - phasers, distortion etc. - that never came out at the time as they considered it too tripped out for their audience.

I think their music stands up today - Crashing Dream less so although it has its own charm - and Opal's 'Happy Nightmare Baby' continues to be one my favourite ever albums. People might criticise the Rain Parade for being a little lacking in power but they made up for it in imagination and how well they played. The heavier moments are fewer (Demolition has a few choice cuts) but the songs are just so damn good you can't ignore them. A friend once said to me if you are ever reminded of a certain song, album, band etc. you are fond of, and that you haven't played for a while, you should play it/them as soon as you can. After all - when are you going to have a better opportunity? It's sound advice and one I recommend to anyone. As a result I've been in a merry Rain Parade phase for a couple of weeks. I just wish I'd been able to see them live 25 years ago.

Here, to prove my point, is a live version of 'No Easy Way Down' (originally from Explosions In The Glass Palace), from the 'Perfume River' album. Enjoy.

http://www.yousendit.com/download/THE0b ... S3FGa1E9PQ

[spzretent]

You aren't the only one reassessing Rain Parade. Have you looked at the ebay prices people are asking? Crashing Dream used to be $1 all day long. Now the vinyl is $15? Cassette is $25?
I always loved Crashing Dream. I saw them on that tour. On July 4th. I have all the other stuff too. If you need a copy of Perfume River pm me.
Years ago I bought a CDR of Crashing Dream from the Rain Parade web site. Its sounds great and they did a nice job w/color cover and Cd artwork. I think I paid Matt Piucci. I Think.

[runcible]

Crashing Dream has been reissued recently and sounds good. When did Perfume River come out? I found it on Soulseek but sales prices are insane if you can find it. I'd absolutely LOVED to have seen them live.

The Viva Saturn stuff is hit and miss - one great 12" and 2 patchy albums.

[spzretent]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... ition=used

not bad.

[niamhm]

thumbs up for The Emergency Third Rail Power Trip, great psychedelic album ,replaced my old vinyl copy last year after having forgot about them for a while ,never saw them regretably,but i`m not even sure they ever came to scotland...
bought the album after watching a Whistle Test piece on the Paisley Underground,,The Rain Parade did a version of No Easy Way Down ,their was another live album with a big colour picture of 2 budgies on the front but the name escapes me at the moment was before Crashing Dreams ,I think I still have it in among my old dusty vinyl, a largely forgotten band but worth checking out for psychedelic music fans.

[Chris Barrus]

their was another live album with a big colour picture of 2 budgies on the front but the name escapes me at the moment was before Crashing Dreams ,I think I still have it in among my old dusty vinyl.

That would be Beyond The Sunset. Like what Runcible said, it's frustrating that these guys aren't namechecked as much as they should be, especially now whenever I hear someone that sounds like them (and there are a lot of them).

I was fortunate enough to see them several times back then and admittedly both live albums don't adequately get their sound down. First time I saw them was one of the last shows with David Roback... my lasting impression was that it must have been what it was like seeing Buffalo Springfield early on when they were blasting away on 15 minute long jams before they decided to Get Serious. I like the Demolition version of the Crashing Dream tracks but the returns are diminishing - sorta like the Dream Syndicate albums without Karl Precoda.

When Opal was still called Clay Allison, they did "No Easy Way Down" too and it was pretty goddamn great - their version metamorphosed into "Soul Giver" on their first album.

[runcible]

When Opal was still called Clay Allison, they did "No Easy Way Down" too and it was pretty goddamn great - their version metamorphosed into "Soul Giver" on their first album.

Are there Clay Allison recordings of No Easy Way Down? I saw a Clay Allison 12" one time and didn't buy it.

I'm really envious of you seeing RP Chris... One of those huge regrets in my memory as I know I had the opportunity back in the day. I'd love to have seen Opal too - Happy Nightmare Baby is an incredible record for so many reasons.

[burningwheel]

crashing dream and Beyond the Sunset (live in japan) have recently been released on cd now on Lemon Records in the UK. i love the rain parade. never got the version from the band themselves, always wanted it but missed out on it, maybe copies will show up on ebay, have to be a completist

[angelsighs]

This band have been on my to-buy list for a while, but the albums seem quite to get hold of. Quite expensive on amazon marketplace. I remember the whole 'paisley underground' thing being discussed here a while back (another one of your threads i think runcible), and I got hold of The Dream Syndicate's first album, which although I like it well enough don't find it amazing. Do they float your boat runcible- would you class the bands together or is that lazy journalism?

[niamhm]

This band have been on my to-buy list for a while, but the albums seem quite to get hold of. Quite expensive on amazon marketplace. I remember the whole 'paisley underground' thing being discussed here a while back (another one of your threads i think runcible), and I got hold of The Dream Syndicate's first album, which although I like it well enough don't find it amazing. Do they float your boat runcible- would you class the bands together or is that lazy journalism?

Being far from an expert ,but I would say the Rain Parade were more psychedelic classicists than Dream Syndicate ,
this clip was the one that hooked me,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWQxG0GLAew

the quality isn`t perfect but still a good idea.

[runcible]

I sort of see why those bands were grouped together but they sounded pretty different. Is the Dream Symdicate album you have The Days of Wine & Roses? I really rate that - some excellent songs on there like Halloween, Until Lately and the awesome title track.

[angelsighs]

Is the Dream Symdicate album you have The Days of Wine & Roses? I really rate that - some excellent songs on there like Halloween, Until Lately and the awesome title track.

yep that's the one. I will admit that Halloween is a cracking song and I like the closing rave-up of the title track but not much else grabbed me. Might have to give it another spin!

[spzretent]

Do you not like Tell Me When Its Over?

[angelsighs]

Do you not like Tell Me When Its Over?

it's alright, the rest of the album seems to be servicable but not remarkable. Like I say I'll give it another spin, as on paper the band are right up my street.

[spzretent]

I just asked because that was the stand out track to me off that record and it had yet to be mentioned.

[Chris Barrus]

I sort of see why those bands were grouped together but they sounded pretty different. Is the Dream Symdicate album you have The Days of Wine & Roses? I really rate that - some excellent songs on there like Halloween, Until Lately and the awesome title track.

"Paisley underground" as a tag was about as misused back then as "shoegaze" was years later. The only real connection between all the bands were that they were friendly with each other, opened each other's shows, and occasionally traded members. Stylistically they were everywhere though.

The Days Of Wine And Roses is an utterly crucial album

[Chris Barrus]

Are there Clay Allison recordings of No Easy Way Down? I saw a Clay Allison 12" one time and didn't buy it.

I'm really envious of you seeing RP Chris... One of those huge regrets in my memory as I know I had the opportunity back in the day. I'd love to have seen Opal too - Happy Nightmare Baby is an incredible record for so many reasons.

There was a flood of Clay Allison/Opal recordings up on Dime late last year and some of them have their version of "No Easy Way Down" on it. They only played it live and even then not very often.

BTW, Opal fans should be aware that former Opal/Mazzy Star member Suki Ewers (that's her singing "Brigit On Sunday") released an album (Kind Of Hazy) last year. Well worth checking out if you even remotely like any of the bands we're talking about in this thread.

[runcible]

BTW, Opal fans should be aware that former Opal/Mazzy Star member Suki Ewers (that's her singing "Brigit On Sunday") released an album (Kind Of Hazy) last year. Well worth checking out if you even remotely like any of the bands we're talking about in this thread.

Thanks for that Chris. I'll watch out for it.

I'm curious to hear the Clay Allison 'No Easy Way Down'. It's interesting that this song originally came out as a Rain Parade track after David Roback left the band. Obviously a dual writing job. I still can't really get to the bottom of exactly what happened to set up his departure. I've read negative comments from Matt Piucci but the Rain Parade partly centred on his brother Steven so it'd be interesting to hear the reasons for the split.

[spzretent]

BTW, Opal fans should be aware that former Opal/Mazzy Star member Suki Ewers (that's her singing "Brigit On Sunday") released an album (Kind Of Hazy) last year. Well worth checking out if you even remotely like any of the bands we're talking about in this thread.

Yes. It is excellent. There were only 1000 cds pressed so if you find one reasonably priced pick it up.

[spzretent]

Randall still has a few left. So they are availbale from Mind Expansion.