hypersongs

Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart

The Virgin debut, the first album without Chris Molla.
Camper Van Beethoven, 1988

Lowery plays lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Segel violin, mandolin, keyboards, guitar and backing vocals, Krummenacher bass, Lisher lead guitar and Pedersen drums. Bruce Licher's cover was nominated for a 1989 Grammy for Best Recording Package. Singles were "Turquoise Jewelry" and "Life Is Grand". Lowery described "O Death" as a tribute to the 1960s band Kaleidoscope. Krummenacher told PopMatters in 2013 that many of the songs came from group writing sessions before the band signed, citing "Eye of Fatima" as a really good example. It reached 124 on the Billboard 200. Christgau gave it a B-plus, saying the postmodern postfolkie weirdos were suddenly transformed into, of all things, a rock band, sans chops; Wikipedia says Herring gave it a considerably slicker and more mainstream sound. AllMusic gave 4 of 5 and Rolling Stone's Michael Azerrad 4. Omnivore reissued it in 2014 with bonus tracks including a 3:27 edit of "Eye of Fatima".

Track listing

  1. Eye of Fatima (Part One)2:37
  2. Eye of Fatima (Part Two)2:17
  3. O Death3:07
  4. She Divines Water3:52
  5. Devil Song1:59
  6. One of These Days3:27
  7. Turquoise Jewelry3:07
  8. Waka2:46
  9. Change Your Mind3:03
  10. My Path Belated2:35
  11. Never Go Back3:25
  12. The Fool2:37
  13. Tania3:48
  14. Life Is Grand3:23

More from Camper Van Beethoven

Telephone Free Landslide Victory (1985), II & III (1986), Camper Van Beethoven (1986), Key Lime Pie (1989), Tusk (2002), New Roman Times (2004), El Camino Real (2014)

Sources

  1. Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart, Wikipedia
  2. Camper Van Beethoven, Trouser Press