Search - Chris Connelly :: Phenobarb Bam-Ba-Lam

Unheard-of masterpiece

James | North Carolina | 08/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"it's always puzzled me why Chris Connelly never got the respect he deserved, hell, everyone I know has no clue who he is, much less heard any of his material. this was the first cd that i listened to from him (at the time i didn't even have a clue he had any affiliation with Ministry) and it stunned me at how wonderful the music was. the depth of Connelly's songwriting is genius, and i still can't seem to figure out why this guy isn't on par socially with other eclectic songwriters like David Bowie or Lou Reed. this guy can go from heavy industrialized rockers ("Dirtbox Tennessee", "Ignition Times Four") to gentler tracks ("No Lesser of Two Evils", "Heartburn"), he sometimes finds a balance between the styles ("Come Down Here", "July") and manages to evenly throw it all in one album. Connelly's girlfriend committed suicide during the recording of Phenobarb Bambalam, which i'm assuming is one of the reasons why this album has an underlying darkness and eeriness to it.



it's refreshing to hear an album as original and creative as this, especially when original and creative is few and far between these days. hopefully in time more people will come across this album and hold it in such high regard as i do.. i could easily say this is in my top five of the most affecting albums i've ever had the pleasure of listening to."