The Golden Palominos - Albums Collection 1989-1994 (4CD)

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The Golden Palominos - Albums Collection 1989-1994 (4CD)

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Collection includes: A Dead Horse (1989); Drunk With Passion (1991); This Is How It Feels (1993); Pure (1994).

The Golden Palominos were not a group per se, but rather the revolving-door project of drummer, programmer, and bandleader Anton Fier. Born June 20, 1956, in Cleveland, Ohio, Fier first made his mark as the drummer on the Feelies' seminal 1980 debut Crazy Rhythms. After leaving the group, he joined the punk-jazz unit the Lounge Lizards before returning home to Cleveland, where he was recruited by the legendary new wave band Pere Ubu for the album Song of the Bailing Man. After exiting Ubu, Fier again relocated to downtown New York City, where he founded the first Golden Palominos lineup in 1981. In its primary live incarnation, the band was an avant-funk supergroup comprised of Fier and another drummer, David Moss, saxophonist John Zorn, guitarist Arto Lindsay, and a pair of bassists, Bill Laswell and Jamaaladeen Tacuma; on their self-titled 1983 debut, the Palominos were augmented by Fred Frith, Nicky Skopelitis, and Mark Miller.

Over the next few years, Fier moved away from the first record's experimental noise into far more traditional pop territory; simultaneously, he largely jettisoned the first album's lineup in favor of an ever-changing collection of punk legends, post-punk superstars, up-and-comers, and N.Y.C.-scene vets. After enlisting ex-Raybeat Jody Harris to help him co-write much of the music, Fier recruited vocalists ranging from R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and Cream's Jack Bruce to PIL's John Lydon and newcomer Syd Straw. Rounded out by musicians like former dB Chris Stamey, guitar greats Richard Thompson and Henry Kaiser, and P-Funk alumni Bernie Worrell and Mike Hampton, the revamped Golden Palominos reached an early peak with 1985's Visons of Excess, a diverse yet cogent collection highlighted by a cover of Moby Grape's "Omaha" and the original "Boy (Go)."

With 1986's Blast of Silence, the group flirted with elements of country and folk; while Stipe and Lydon were noticeably absent, many of the other players featured on Visions of Excess remained, along with new additions including guitarist T-Bone Burnett, Numbers Band singer Robert Kidney, artist/producer Don Dixon, singer/songwriter Peter Blegvad, Matthew Sweet, and Flying Burrito Brothers alum Sneaky Pete Kleinow. On 1989's moody A Dead Horse, Fier again shifted gears, settling on a constant lineup of Laswell, Skopelitis, Kidney, and ex-Information Society vocalist Amanda Kramer along with a handful of guests, including former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor.

1991's Drunk With Passion returned to the all-star format; Stipe and Thompson again rejoined the fold, welcoming newcomers like Sugar's Bob Mould. This Is How It Feels, a sophisticated concept album inspired by the Graham Greene novel The End of the Road followed in 1993; along with core members like Laswell, Skopelitis, Worrell, and Kramer, the record spotlighted vocalists Lori Carson and Lydia Kavanaugh, as well as bass great Bootsy Collins. 1994's Pure featured many of the same principal players, while 1996's Dead Inside, essentially from a trio comprised of Fier, ex-Psychedelic Furs guitarist Knox Chandler, and vocalist/lyricist Nicole Blackman, explored electronic and ambient soundscapes. Dead Inside would be the final album by the Golden Palominos with various compilations being the only additions to the discography.

Biography by Jason Ankeny, Allmusic.com

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The Golden Palominos - Albums Collection 1989-1994 (4CD)

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By and large, A Dead Horse tosses out the supersession approach of previous Golden Palominos efforts to concentrate on a steady core roster of Anton Fier, Bill Laswell, and Nicky Skopelitis; vocal chores are evenly divided among the Numbers Band's Robert Kidney and Amanda Kramer, formerly of Information Society. A subdued, moody effort, A Dead Horse lacks the energy and spark of the group's earlier work; only Kramer's lovely "Darklands" makes much of a lasting impression.

Review by Jason Ankeny, Allmusic.com

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The Golden Palominos - Albums Collection 1989-1994 (4CD)

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The 1991 album Drunk with Passion is the fifth installment of drummer Anton Fier's ongoing, ever-changing project known as Golden Palominos. As always, there's no shortage of musical heavyweights plying their trade on this edition. Guitarist Richard Thompson and bassist Bill Laswell are Palomino veterans. The vocal chores are handled by ex-Information Society singer Andrea Kramer, and Bob Mould sings lead on "Dying from the Inside Out." The emphasis here is on mood, which is decidedly ethereal, starting with the album's lead track "Alive and Living Now," featuring Michael Stipe on vocals and Carla Bley adding Hammond organ. The song is a buoyant, midtempo celebration of life. Other highlights include "The Haunting," with lovely vocals from Kramer, and "When the Kingdom Calls," which has some fluid, melodic guitar work from Thompson. The proceedings are so dreamy that the album threatens to float away at times. However, Mould opens "Dying from the Inside Out" with a blood-curdling howl and the band follows his lead with a primal stomp. A very classy album.

Review by Tom Demalon, Allmusic.com

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The Golden Palominos - Albums Collection 1989-1994 (4CD)

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Lori Carson comes aboard for the sixth album from Anton Fier's Golden Palominos. Her writing and singing provide the emotional backbone of This Is How It Feels, while the usual collection of stellar musicians ranging from bassist Bill Laswell to guitarists Bootsy Collins and Nicky Skopelitis gives the record its sonic grooves. This Is How It Feels offers the same ethereal textures of its predecessor, Drunk with Passion, but the feel is rooted in chugging, hypnotic dance rhythms. "Prison of the Rhythm" is slightly funky as Carson delivers a breathy vocal with some clever wordplay on betrayal. "I'm Not Sorry" has a rhythmic, percussive beat and a self-confident lyric about a woman laying down the law to her lover. The strongest, most alluring cut is the mid-tempo shuffle "To a Stranger." Lydia Kavanagh gives a sultry vocal performance on this tale of a physical encounter with a stranger over a pulsating beat complete with moans. This Is How It Feels is another strong entry into the catalog of the Golden Palominos.

Review by Tom Demalon, Allmusic.com

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The Golden Palominos - Albums Collection 1989-1994 (4CD)

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If you live in New York, then chances are good that either you or someone you know has once been the Golden Palominos' singer. With Pure it was Lori Carson's turn, and she was just what this occasionally brilliant but frequently unfocused band needed. This is probably the Palominos' first great album (unless you count the group's brilliantly abrasive debut). What's the difference this time? Easy: focus, cogency, and discipline. Also funky, up-to-the-minute beats percolating under Carson's diaphanous vocals and supporting her intelligent (if sometimes overly precious) lyrics. Notice how her unbelievably sexy whisper on "Heaven" rubs up against Bill Laswell's ironclad bass; try not to notice the lyrics on "No Skin" ("This dark and secret crime/Cruelty masked as something kind"), and instead luxuriate in the dark and lovely atmospherics. Very, very nice. That's Bootsy Collins playing rhythm guitar, by the way.

Review by Rick Anderson, Allmusic.com