if you get nothing out of "nowhere," you are not saved (;

As I  (half) joked with Keltic Ken in this video clip, "If you don't get anything out of The Violet Burning, you are obviously not saved"!!  See 7:41-7:50:




But it could well be that if you could nothing out of this band, you may not be human.

One need not be a Christian to appreciate the music or the lyrics.
But I dare to believe they will inevitably touch and transform the humanity of any human who gives them a chance and time.

"We are not human beings having a spiritually experience," C.S. Lewis articulately and chiastically corrected, "..we are spiritual beings having a human experience."

My human experience and my spiritual being are already drawing daily from their new project,  in a similar way to my "still living off my first U2 concert."   "The Story of Our Lives"  is that epic and epochal.

 I have waited to weeks to post a follow-up to my initial review..I keep

the violet burning from the violet burning on Vimeo.

thinking I will eventually be able to pull off a detailed and comprehensive  review.

It's impossible.  It's too big.

More review from me is  not necessary.  But some feeble attempt will follow.


Who else is brave and called enough to release a triple album in this economy..or ever?

Classic double albums, particularly concept albums or rock operas (from "Tommy" to "The Wall") are
easy to cite; well-done semi-concept  single albums abound ("Church Music" and"No Line on the Horizon" are some recents, see "Gregory of Nyssa and Green Day: death/birth of the concept of the concept album")
)..

..but I have never been on a musical journey as darkly light, deeply layered,  and downright lovely as "The Story of Our Lives."

I almost refuse to listen to it except as the entire journey; it's that sacred to me.

For one....The literary and musical "inclusios" and reprises continue to stand out, they tether and intertext the three albums together .   And there is no end to the intriguing interconnections among the three discs/acts.   I'll bet there are some serious listeners who have not yet caught the brilliant third appearance/reprise of the opening overture "Aurora".  It  not only reappears as kind of a centerpiece of "Mojave" (first song, third album), but it is briefly and brillinatly snuck/embedded into the last moments of the album (outro to "Made for You"), tying the entire project together thematically.

On that note, it floors me that almost every song (no matter its vibe, tone, or lyric)  is almost a microcosm of the entire narrative, trajectory story.  That's impossible, but it happens

The amazing --sometimes swirling, always timely, often astonishing-- drumming is alone worth  the price of admission.  It somehow highlights; almost drives, the storyline.  The tight and right basswork? Gorgeous and  completely complementary/complimentary to the flow.

But there is no word for the guitars...from the shades of Black Sabbath and Chagall Guevara to the  more delicate ethereal "music of the spheres" vibe that only Michael can pull from strings:

Vocals?  Where to start?   ( I am about to drop some names, but nothing on the album is cheaply derivative)...The Alice Cooperesque chorus of ""My Name is Night" ? The prophetic gothic Brian Healy/Dead Artist Sydrome-ish moments?   The Beatles/Lennon connection on TH3 FANT^5T1C MACH1N3 (The Violets have covered the Beatles before, "Eleanor Rigby," but never have they so sounded like them in their most creative era)?  Then there's a song that diehard fans might listen to and not realize until the outro that it's  Michael  and The Violets: Liebe über Alles.   The falsetto that carries most of the song  is chilling, and the lower-range voice of the last few minutes is haunting, and ushers one  into the presence of God.

Oh, sorry about that last line.  If you are not saved, you can still like The Violet Burning.
And you may not be crazy or "on crack"  (play the first minute of the video at top to appreciate the "crack" reference) if  you don't really like "The Story of Our Lives."
But if you don't get anything out of at least one random song below ...try "Nowhere, Ca"...
if you get nothing out of "Nowhere,"
you may not be "on crack,"....but I might wonder about whether you are human...(:

Let "Story" tell your story.  The beauty of a work this grand and diverse is that you might find two songs that are not your vibe, but the next one will hijack you , and humanize you.

Oh, and if you like songs for the "saved," how about "Firstborn From the Dead"?  It's ready for church...well, our kind of church, anyway...start at 4:11 here below.
But again, if headbanging is as bad as crack for you, stay tuned below  the video for some softer numbers(:



That's my story...and I'll stick to it.


2-06 6 Nowhere, CA by thevioletburning
--
2-07 7 Sung by thevioletburning

2-02 maelstrom by thevioletburning
3-05 5 arc by thevioletburning
3-02 mon désir by thevioletburning