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The Music of the 77s...
Sticks and Stones1990 Produced by Mike Roe and Steve Griffith (Broken)MT/ Nowhere Else/ This Is the Way Love Is/ Perfect Blues/ Don't This Way/ You Walked in the Room/ The Days to Come/ The Loop/ God Sends Quails/ Love Without Dreams/ (lost island treasures: Do It For Love/ The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes, and the Pride of Life/ Pearls Before Swine/ Bottom Line) Heralded as the 77's comeback release, this collection of out-takes, demos and rarities - many of which were never considered good enough for the Sevens' previous releases - ironically became the band's most critically and commercially well-received release up to that point. Sticks and Stones epitomized the 77's musical cross pollination of past and present. "MT" is probably the Sevens' best attempt at modern pop, with a muscular guitar hook that rocks your teeth out and quirky, synth-based groove that doesn't give in to new wave cheekiness. "Perfect Blues" is in the same roadhouse spirit as "Mercy, Mercy" and "You Don't Scare Me," while "This is the Way Love is" and "Nowhere Else" sent the band in previously unexplored pop directions. But Sticks and Stones has more to offer than just dance numbers. "Don't, This Way" is "perhaps the saddest song I've ever heard," Roe claims in the album's liner notes and elegantly captures in these few words the ache and loss in the lyrics and melody of this song. Six of the songs ("MT," "Nowhere Else," "This is the Way Love is," "Perfect Blues," "Don't, This Way" and "Love Without Dreams") comprised a 1988 demo the band shopped exhaustively to major labels after being released from Island. Released only on Broken Records, Sticks and Stones also signaled a switch of attention from a mainstream to a Christian audience.by Brad Caviness - 7ball |