Jesse Malin - The Three First Solo Albums (2002-2007) COMBINED & RESTORED

Singer/songwriter Jesse Malin was the face of the glam/hard rock band D Generation for eight years, following the dissolution of Heart Attack, the hardcore punk act he fronted as a teenager in the '80s. They weren't a metal band, but critics quickly dismissed D Generation as Johnny Thunders copycats. As one of New York City's more talented acts of the 1990s, the band released three albums before disbanding in April 1999. Malin, who's a punk with a soft heart, didn't stop writing music. His love for Neil Young, Tom Waits, and Steve Earle affected his work; he spent the next two years working on a fresh, countrified sound…

Singer/songwriter Jesse Malin was the face of the glam/hard rock band D Generation for eight years, following the dissolution of Heart Attack, the hardcore punk act he fronted as a teenager in the '80s. They weren't a metal band, but critics quickly dismissed D Generation as Johnny Thunders copycats. Their teased hair and glossy wardrobe were just a part of the act, but substance and song structure were there. As one of New York City's more talented acts of the 1990s, the band released three albums before disbanding in April 1999. Malin, who's a punk with a soft heart, didn't stop writing music. His love for Neil Young, Tom Waits, and Steve Earle affected his work; he spent the next two years working on a fresh, countrified sound.

Ex-Whiskeytown frontman Ryan Adams, who'd been a friend of Malin since the D Generation days, was impressed with Malin's new approach. Adams offered to produce Malin's debut album even though he'd never produced a record. The two headed into Lo-Ho Studios in New York in January 2001 and made an album in just six days. A deal with Artemis soon followed. The Fine Art of Self Destruction appeared in the U.K. in October 2002; first single "Queen of the Underworld" was a moderate hit and the British press quickly hailed Malin's debut as one of the year's best. Stateside fans finally got their hands on The Fine Art of Self Destruction in January 2003. Road dates followed, both in America and the U.K. Malin contributed a version of "Hungry Heart" to the benefit album Light of Day: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen; he also picked up a nomination for the Shortlist Music Prize. By November he was back in the studio, laying down tracks for Self Destruction's follow-up. The Heat appeared in June 2004, accompanied by a string of tour dates on both sides of the pond.

Malin's third album was recorded in Los Angeles during the summer/fall of 2006, which marked his first time making a record outside of New York (or even above 14th Street) during his career. Featuring guest spots by Bruce Springsteen and Jakob Dylan, among others, Glitter in the Gutter eventually surfaced in March 2007 via Billie Joe Armstrong's Adeline Records label. Malin spent most the year on the road with his backing band, the Heat. That group released Mercury Retrograde in 2008, which was recorded live in New York City. The same year Malin followed up with the One Little Indian release On Your Sleeve, a gusty set of covers that featured imaginative readings of songs by the Bad Brains, the Rolling Stones, Fred Neil, Paul Simon, and others. In 2009 he founded a new band called St. Mark's Social, which released Love It to Life in 2010 on the Side One Dummy label.

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Singer/songwriter Jesse Malin was the face of the glam/hard rock band D Generation for eight years, following the dissolution of Heart Attack, the hardcore punk act he fronted as a teenager in the '80s. They weren't a metal band, but critics quickly dismissed D Generation as Johnny Thunders copycats. As one of New York City's more talented acts of the 1990s, the band released three albums before disbanding in April 1999. Malin, who's a punk with a soft heart, didn't stop writing music. His love for Neil Young, Tom Waits, and Steve Earle affected his work; he spent the next two years working on a fresh, countrified sound. His debut solo album, The Fine Art of Self Destruction, appeared in the U.K. in October 2002; first single "Queen of the Underworld" was a moderate hit and the British press quickly hailed Malin's debut as one of the year's best.

Jesse Malin has come a long way from his glam rock heyday of fronting D Generation, and his solo debut, The Fine Art of Self Destruction, is an impressive look at Malin's musical maturation. He's a crooner, an Americana caterwaul, and a picaro of his native New York City, but a lonesome one at that. The Fine Art of Self Destruction displays a hearty mix of bittersweet alt-country ("Queen of the Underworld") and ballsy roots rock ("Wendy"), but the album is fully supported with a punk rock edge that Malin's most familiar with. Having ex-Whiskeytown frontman Ryan Adams in the production seat is a great fit, for both he and Malin's love-sucker hearts dance around the soft-hued beauty of each song. One might sense a slight hesitation in Malin's presentation, but it's not distracting. Malin's flight-or-fight theme on The Fine Art of Self Destruction is what makes this album an enjoyable introduction. He sifts through personal confusion on all different levels, and Adams has captured Malin's most intimate moments. "Almost Grown", layered with candied guitar licks, recounts being a child of divorce, while "Xmas" is a bit more angelic with its lush string arrangements. Those tender years of being a kid are hell, and Malin isn't afraid in reminding all of his listeners that time shapes one's character as well, and that's what The Fine Art of Self Destruction is about: regardless of where your home is, find your focus and don't get lost. In "Cigarettes and Violets", Malin warbles: "Messed up like a prizefight/At least you could have tried/Messed up like the system/You used to call a sin," and it's so raw you can tell Malin's heart is breaking and mending ten times over. There's no regret here, but Malin makes it alright to talk about what could have happened. He's done an intricate, stunning job.

~ MacKenzie Wilson, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. Queen Of The Underworld
02. Tko
03. Downliner
04. Wendy
05. Brooklyn
06. The Fine Art Of Self Destruction
07. Riding On The Subway
08. High Lonesome
09. Solitaire
10. Almost Grown
11. Xmas
12. Brooklyn (Band Version) [Hidden track]
13. Queen Of The Underworld [MPEG-1 Music Video]

all songs written by Jesse Malin
except "2" by Malin/Pisano, and "10" by Malin/McGinty


Produced & Mixed by Ryan Adams in six days at Loho Studios, NYC.
Mastered by Fred Kevorkian at Absolute Audio.



• Jesse Malin - vocals, acoustic guitar
• Johnny Pisano - bass, upright bass, backing vocals
• Joe McGinty - piano, hammond organ, wurlitzer
• Paul Garisto - drums
• Ryan Adams - electric guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
• Toby Dammit - percussion
• Melissa Auf der Maur - backing vocals
• Richard Fortus - lead guitar on "1"
• Esko - guitar on "2"

Original Release Date: October 28, 2002
Released in Japan: July 24, 2003
Label: Imperial Records, Japan
Catalog No.: TECI-24173


Singer/songwriter Jesse Malin was the face of the glam/hard rock band D Generation for eight years, following the dissolution of Heart Attack, the hardcore punk act he fronted as a teenager in the '80s. They weren't a metal band, but critics quickly dismissed D Generation as Johnny Thunders copycats. As one of New York City's more talented acts of the 1990s, the band released three albums before disbanding in April 1999. Malin, who's a punk with a soft heart, didn't stop writing music. His love for Neil Young, Tom Waits, and Steve Earle affected his work; he spent the next two years working on a fresh, countrified sound. The Heat is Jesse Malin's second album.

With New York City in his back pocket once again, Jesse Malin continues his serenade to lost loves and forgotten opportunities on his second album, The Heat. He kicks his best buddy, Ryan Adams, out of the production seat to take care of things himself and once more cuts apart his honest heart. Isn't that why most become musicians, to deal with the fear of loss and regret? Their wounded soul becomes their art and a way of dealing with the bad hand they got dealt. It's good therapy for most artists and a cold-water cure for a lot of music fans, but relying on that formula itself doesn't automatically make a great record. The Heat goes through the motions of telling stories and Malin is a charmer with his self-pitying poetics. Songs such as the false sexual gratification of "Arrested", the rompish skip and run of "Mona Lisa", and the haunted political errors of "New World Order" are loaded in affection and raw roots rock. Malin's drag racer-like desire to find some kind of solace with love is even more fierce on "Hotel Columbia", an excellent piano-guitar dalliance that never lets up. But no matter how much The Heat yearns for common ground, Malin's songwriting suffers somewhat. He's skilled and inventive with his work as a musician, but the aches and pains of songs like "Swinging Man" and "God's Lonely People" fall short of what Malin delivered on The Fine Art of Self-Destruction. It's as if he's reaching for something, but uncertain of what he's supposed to be reaching for. That's okay. The Heat is only Malin's second album and shouldn't be categorized as a slump. Sonically, he's progressing into a real cowboy balladeer without dismissing his punk days. The desperation of "Since You're in Love" makes this evident; however, lyrics like "I'm still sad over you" aren't poignant enough. Malin has what it takes to write a really beautiful love song, one full of love's usual blood and guts. Perhaps he's terrified – like most people are – of owning up to the fear of losing it or never having it?

~ MacKenzie Wilson, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. Mona Lisa
02. Swinging Man
03. Silver Manhattan
04. Arrested
05. Since Your In Love
06. Going Out West
07. Scars Of Love
08. New World Order
09. About You
10. Block Island
11. Basement Home
12. Hotel Columbia
13. Indian Summer
14. God's Lonely People


Produced by Jesse Malin. Mixed by Ely Janney. Mastered by Greg Calby at Sterling Sound, NY.
All additional information and list of the musicians read inside the booklet.

Release Date: June 29, 2004
Label: One Little Indian
Catalog No.: TPLP-399CD


Singer/songwriter Jesse Malin was the face of the glam/hard rock band D Generation for eight years, following the dissolution of Heart Attack, the hardcore punk act he fronted as a teenager in the '80s. They weren't a metal band, but critics quickly dismissed D Generation as Johnny Thunders copycats. As one of New York City's more talented acts of the 1990s, the band released three albums before disbanding in April 1999. Malin, who's a punk with a soft heart, didn't stop writing music. His love for Neil Young, Tom Waits, and Steve Earle affected his work; he spent the next two years working on a fresh, countrified sound. Glitter in the Gutter is Jesse Malin's third studio album.

It took three albums, but Jesse Malin's finally made it. What does that mean? It means that he's finally assembled the record he's been trying to put together since his debut (which was a good record). Glitter in the Gutter is a fully realized collection of solidly crafted pop/rock songs that are as lyrically substantive and poetic as the music that goes with them. Produced by Rob Caggiano and Eddie Wohl for Adeline Records, Malin is the epitome of the street rocker with a poet's heart. Rolling in California, for the first time on a record – and for the first time above 14th Street in New York City – Malin recruited old pal Ryan Adams to play guitar on a couple of cuts, Jakob Dylan to sing a backing vocal, and some guy named Bruce Springsteen to help him sing a duet on killer little ballad called "Broken Radio" complete with strings. This cut is the proof, though the record is filled with it, that Malin has become one of those fine rock & roll storytellers who has equal parts melodrama, hedonism, poetry, swagger and timing. The story of a former lover, someone hidden from the view of the protagonist, as Adams' guitars entwine with a piano and strings and ambient sounds, the tempo is slow and Malin's croon sounds like a man on the fire escape reminiscing to the night sky: "She used to talk about astrology/She was born in June/She danced with strangers and celebrities/Empty stars and full moon/I was thinking about the universe/For what it's worth/Or the one about the phoenix bird/That died and then returned." He jumps right back with the wild rocker "Prisoners of Paradise" and evokes all the desperation of the bleary-eyed romantics in the young Springsteen with the soul of Willy DeVille and the savvy wisdom of Elliott Murphy and is louder and prouder than all three. "Black Haired Girl" is another city story, it's all blazing guitars and sweet melodies. There's a wild vulnerability in the singer though he's trying hard to be in control. "Lucinda," well, we know who that one's about. There are a few songs on her album West about Malin, too.

But Malin doesn't have to wait until the middle of the record to shine. He does it from the first cut, when he leaves the country-ish tinge present on his earlier records for good. The ringing guitars on "Don't Let Them Take You Down" become a lone acoustic that gives way to a cracking snare and big ringing electrics courtesy of Lizzy Lee Vincent and Justin Lomery: "We were born in flames, maiden names/Suburban homes, make your bones/Bite your lip, take the fifth…And it's my generation and the whole world is breakin my heart." He goes out of it roaring with all the romance rock & roll can promise when it splits reality in two: "Don't let them take you down/It's a beautiful day/Don't let them mess you around." Coming up in the '80s through the hardcore punk scene, Malin's proving that he's matured but that he believes, though he's got no illusions about what's happening all around him. Speaking of the '80s, Malin's got the cojones to cover Paul Westerberg's mighty anthem "Bastards of Young" and turn it into a piano-laden ballad that gives way to screeing feedback guitars that line the background. It's brave but it's a misstep, because with his presence, he might have pulled it off with all the raging six-string power the song is due. It's a minor complaint, perhaps, because that song should never be covered. He shoots right back with a mid-tempo power ballad by updating Heat's "Since You're in Love" with "Happy Ever After (Since You're in Love 2007)." The dramatics are more weatherbeaten this time out, the wish is more a confession of self-doubt and brokenness, but it's tight. "New York Nights" is a fire-escape love song with an acoustic guitar that gives way to the roar of the noise of the singer's heart with a hook nearly worthy of Doc Pomus without the retro vibe. "Aftermath" is pure Malin cine-song. There's a movie in here somewhere, but it's everywhere, falling out of the changes and dripping from the words like blood from a freshly opened vein. He evokes images of rock's greatest moments in a weary urban tragedy that's not willing to throw in the towel just yet. Adams provides gorgeous backing vocals and some keen organ work, too. Glitter in the Gutter is aptly named, because Malin's not posing. There's irony in the reveries and hope in the dustbin. Like Samuel Beckett, he's holding out for the glimmer, even when it's covered over by busted hearts, lost souls, and night roamers who cannot bear to see the sun come up because all the flaws will be laid bare. It's a fine look at what's left of rock & roll's promise: plenty, it seems, and shows the tatters in the seams of the younger generation's American Dream. Malin may not be Bob Dylan or Springsteen, but he doesn't need to be; that was a different time, and he's right on schedule for his own.

~ Thom Jurek, all media guide

Tracklist:

01. Don't Let Them Take You Down (Beautiful Day!)
02. In The Modern World
03. Tomorrow Tonight
04. Broken Radio
05. Prisoners Of Paradise
06. Black Haired Girl
07. Lucinda
08. Love Streams
09. Little Star
10. Bastards Of Young
11. Happy Ever After (Since You're In Love 2007)
12. NY Nights
13. Aftermath
14. Megan Don't Know [Bonus Track For Japan]
15. Hungry Heart [Bonus Track For Japan]


Produced by Rob Caggiano & Eddie Wohl. Mixed by Paul Hager
All additional information & list of the musicians read inside the booklet.

Original Release Date: March 20, 2007
Released in Japan: March 21, 2007
Label: Imperial Records, Japan
Catalog No.: TECI-24411


Another song, that remains the same