Caravan Finest Hour Sublimation Arabia House Are Spirit March Brave Liberation Dance Faith Wolf Run On Wings Of Love Personnel: Jim Leone - Bass, vocals Richard Ploog - drums Anthony Smith - keyboards, vocals Peter Koppes - vocals, guitars Additional Musicians: Peter Pix - mandolin Robien Haider - percussion Derek Austin - didgeridoo Zoom - percussion Sonia Chemarin - vocals Manny Lieber - flute Mark Wood - percussion Additional vocals: Matthew Hartley, Sophia Rose Zybert, Russel Grigg, Jane Cox, Mark Wood
There's a mistake in Wings Of Love; at 3:56 there's a definite drop in pitch, like the tape speed has decreased momentarily.
Apparently Peter used the following opinions in the promotional material that was distributed for the album.
From: Paul Maurice Webb Subject: Re: Water Rites yet? cc: seance@gnu.ai.mit.edu >Anyone (specifically those close to Sydney) gotten their Koppes CD yet? Well, I'm about as far from Sydney as I think you can be on this small blue planet, but I got the Koppes CD yesterday I think. I am about 5 songs into it so far, and already I think it is his best work yet. Several songs are rather "Churchy" too. The tracks are: Caravan Finest Hour Sublimation Arabia House Are Spirit march Brave Liberation Dance Faith Wolf Run On Wings Of Love Personnel: Jim Leone - Bass, vocals Richard Ploog - drums Anthony Smith - keyboards, vocals Peter Koppes - vocals, guitars Additional Musicians: Peter Pix - mandolin Robien Haider - percussion Derek Austin - didgeridoo Zoom - percussion Sonia Chemarin - vocals Manny Lieber - flute Mark Wood - percussion Additional vocals: Matthew Hartley, Sophia Rose Zybert, Russel Grigg, Jane Cox, Mark Wood It's a much fuller sound than his previous work, and his vocals aren't as strained as they sometimes sound. I won't go into a song by song description, as I'm only up to #7 by now, but I will say that "Spirit March" is an instrumental. I think it sounds like this one is worth the search. -paul
From: dhelgerm Date: Wed, 20 Dec 1995 11:23:10 -0500 Subject: Re: Water Rites yet? To: seance@gnu.ai.mit.edu, Kevin Gamble The good spirit of xmas is shining on me, I got mine (plus Iridescence) last night and I just put my order in last Tuesday. And I live in Maryland. There is something brown and holy about the east (Jack Kerouac). I was shaking with excitement and am still letting the music sink in. It's like rubbing down with scented oil. Well, i mean it must be, but i've never rubbed down with scented oil; maybe it's like *being* rubbed down with scented oil...ooh! I hope you get yours soon, iknow you will LONG LIVE THE OTHER HALF OF THE CHURCH!! Dan, who thinks Ploog is the best drummer in the Universe
From: dennis@ (Dennis McNevin) Subject: Water Rites I went to pick up my copy of Water Rites at Phantom last weekend. I've played the whole thing and it's got that ethereal quality to it that I associate so much with The Church. I think the vocals are a little too obscured, though.
From: Beebster Date: Thu, 21 Dec 1995 10:20:55 -0500 To: seance@gnu.ai.mit.edu Subject: re: Water Rites I was rather excited (to say the least) to receive my copy of Water Rites yesterday. This is some really primo stuff here. Those of you who have a hard time getting past Peter's voice may have the same trouble with this one, but trust me, there is much MUCH more on this tasty little gem to listen to than the voice. I've personally found a lot of Peter's earlier solo projects a tad unsatisfying because I expected them to be heavily guitar laden, and they turned out to be more keyboard based. This CD is chock full of that dreamy, aching, soaring, atmospheric, wailing Koppes guitar work. Listening to this for the first time made it painfully obvious to me what I'd felt missing from most of SA/SE. Yeah, there's still a lot of keyboards and stuff on this record, but those guitars are usually made center stage -- and the other instrumentation is very tight and meshes well. Nice, solid, whole band sound here. : ) On a non-musical note (pardon the pun), I found it interesting that the artists is credited simply as The Well, rather than Peter Koppes and The Well (as on Iridescence). Also interesting is a glaring typo on the sleeve -- track #5 is mistakingly credited as "House Are", rather than "House Afire". Oops. - Cath :D
From: Kevin Gamble To: seance@gnu.ai.mit.edu Subject: Water Rites Puzzler!! OK, all those who've got the new Koppes CD... Am I the only one who's noticed that two of the songs are almost identical in their basic structure (though they develop a bit differently), and they start off EXACTLY the same way, drum beats and all (though in a different key)? I won't tell you which songs, but you'll only have to listen to the first couple seconds of each to tell. And in a possible coincidence, I think that these two songs also sound the most Church-like of any on the album. Not to slight Peter; I think this is a great album; his echo-y, aching guitar lines are superb, and he gives Marty's claim that he can play "just as beautifully, but uglier" than Peter a serious challenge (vis the soloing on "Spirit March"). I highly recommend it. His very brief use of slide guitar is almost worth the price alone. Happy new year everyone, Kevin A.....a-a-a....a-a-ra....bi-ia (if you have the CD, you know what I mean--hopefully ;)
To: Kevin Gamble cc: seance@gnu.ai.mit.edu Subject: Re: Water Rites Puzzler!! since when did the 'official adjectives of peter's guitar' become "ECHOEY-ACHEY" ??!
From: Beebster Date: Sun, 31 Dec 1995 17:51:51 -0500 cc: seance@gnu.ai.mit.edu Subject: Re: Water Rites Puzzler!! >since when did the 'official adjectives of peter's guitar' become > >"ECHOEY-ACHEY" ??! Actually, I think the above describes Peter's playing style perfectly. Another (borrowed from the OJ trial) is "plaintively wailing". I hear an intense passion linked with a sad, almost palpable painful yearning in Peter's playing. This is especially true (and even magnified) all over the Water Rites album. The instrumental (Spirit March) contains some of the most incredibly intense passionate playing I've ever heard. Its so achingly beautiful that I can almost feel physical pain whenever I hear it. - Cath :D
X-Sender: coat To: seance@thechurch.EBay.Sun.COM From: coat@ (Andy Clements) Subject: CHAT!! - So that's where the Church sound went Hi everyone and happy new year I just felt a sudden compulsion to start using those e-mail headers we all argued about before Christmas. And also to say that Water Rites has just confirmed to me where the all the Churchiness went from SA. I like SA very much, and it was nice to have a change of sound... but it's only when hearing WR [a new acronym!] that I realised just how much I miss this bloke's guitar playing. If it's true he's playing on the next Church album, I hope he gets the chance to shine. OK, I know the singing's a bit dodgy at times, but I think his voice has got something. Or maybe I'm just too forgiving ;). I felt he sounded almost like MWP and SK at times. I even love the kiddies' choir bit - for anybody who hasn't heard it yet - the music fades and a little kiddies choir is left singing the haunting little melody. Then the guitars come BACK! It is, as they say, awesome. Anyway, this album is effing brilliant and I'm chuffed as five blue bears to own it. I think it was Cath who said the guitar was incredibly intense, but Kev (I think it was him) got it dead right: "echoey-achey" IS the definitive description.
From: BTurner01 Date: Fri, 5 Jan 1996 17:52:26 -0500 To: seance@gnu.ai.mit.edu cc: BTurner01 Subject: Water Rites I know that this "thread" has been worked over during the past several weeks, but I just have to share these thoughts... I just finished listening to Water Rites, and I have to say that this is Koppes at his best. The "Church Sound" is alive and well in the Well....... Caravan and On Wings of Love are gems.... Peter needs to try more vocal range variations, though..... The Church could only do so well as to let Koppes still be an active participant in the group in the studio or out of the studio.
From: Beebster Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 15:00:59 -0500 To: seance@gnu.ai.mit.edu Subject: Re: Water Rites >Although I can't imagine the tracks from "Water Rites" fitting along >side those on "Priest=Aura", It's still a shame "Water Rites" couldn't >have been a Church album. Clearly Kilbey & Koppes began moving in >different directions after Starfish. Although admittedly a very unfair comparison, I can't help but think of Sometime Anywhere whenever I listen to the Water Rites album. I keep thinking what the guitar on Caravan could have done for a song like Day of the Dead......and then there are the sort of obvious theme similarities, the very eastern feel of so much of Water Rites -- wouldn't it be great to somehow have Arabia incorporated into Eastern?? And most of all, I would LOVE to hear what weird, wild and wonderful concoction could have been made with Peter's incredible Spirit March guitar work somehow combined with Angelica !! Oh well....I can still dream..... - Cath :DRich Delano -
I've only just acquired "Water Rites" and I think it picks up right where "Iridescence" left off. I thought for sure it would be a let down as the album was so highly praised on the list when it came out. Surpisingly, to me anyway, the album not only met my high expectations, but surpassed them in a big way. It's Peter's best work to date, IMO.
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