Enter: The Conquering Chicken

Last updated
Enter: The Conquering Chicken
EnterTheConqueringChicken.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 22, 1994
Recorded1993
Genre
Length36:51
Label C/Z Records [3]
Broken Rekids (reissue)
Producer Scott Benson, The Gits
The Gits chronology
Frenching the Bully
(1992)
Enter: The Conquering Chicken
(1994)
Evil Stig
(1995)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]

Enter: The Conquering Chicken is The Gits' second full-length album, recorded in 1993 and released posthumously in 1994 on C/Z Records. [5] Lead singer and songwriter Mia Zapata was raped and strangled to death in July 1993 during production of the record. The remainder of the band completed the album with what they had finished so far, and disbanded shortly thereafter. [6]

Contents

Enter: The Conquering Chicken shows Mia Zapata pushing the blues influences that informed her vocal style to the forefront more directly than on Frenching the Bully , with songs like "A Change Is Gonna Come" (a recontextualized cover of soul singer Sam Cooke's original) and "Precious Blood." [7] The band also arguably furthers their hardcore influences on songs like "Sign of the Crab," "Spear & Magic Helmet" and "Drunks."

The record was reissued in 2003, with bonus tracks and different cover art, on the Broken Rekids label.

The song "Sign of the Crab" was written by Zapata, imagining her murder at the hands of a stranger.

Track listing

  1. "Bob (Cousin O.)" – 3:04
  2. "Guilt Within Your Head" – 2:26
  3. "Seaweed" – 2:23
  4. "A Change Is Gonna Come" – 4:03
  5. "Precious Blood" – 3:46
  6. "Beauty of the Rose" – 2:36
  7. "Drunks" – 1:37
  8. "Italian Song" – 2:07
  9. "Social Love I" – 2:39
  10. "Social Love II" – 1:51
  11. "Spear & Magic Helmet" – 2:43
  12. "Drinking Song" – 2:55
  13. "Sign of the Crab" – 2:33

Reissue track listing

  1. "Bob (Cousin O.)" – 3:03
  2. "Guilt Within Your Head" – 2:25
  3. "Seaweed" – 2:25
  4. "A Change Is Gonna Come" – 4:02
  5. "Precious Blood" – 3:45
  6. "Beauty of the Rose" – 2:36
  7. "Drunks" – 1:37
  8. "Italian Song" – 2:07
  9. "Social Love I" – 2:39
  10. "Social Love II" – 1:50
  11. "Daily Bread" – 4:33
  12. "Sign of the Crab" – 2:34
  13. "Drinking Song" – 2:55
  14. "I'm Lou" – 1:55
  15. "New Fast One" – 2:00
  16. "Sign Of The Crab" (Live) – 2:46
  17. "Seaweed" (Live) – 2:29
  18. "Beauty Of The Rose" (Live) – 2:44
  19. "Whirlwind" (Live) – 2:59
  20. "New Fast One" (Live) – 2:01
  21. "Bob (Cousin O.)" (Live) – 3:07
  22. "A Change Is Gonna Come" (Alternate Take) – 4:13

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mia Zapata</span> American singer (1965–1993)

Mia Katherine Zapata was an American musician who was the lead singer for the Seattle punk band The Gits. After gaining praise in the emerging grunge scene, Zapata was murdered in 1993 while on her way home from a music venue, at age 27. The crime went unsolved for a decade before her killer, Jesus Mezquia, was arrested in 2003. Mezquia was tried, convicted and sentenced to 36 years in prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lydia Lunch</span> American singer (born 1959)

Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no wave scene as the singer and guitarist of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7 Year Bitch</span> American punk rock band

7 Year Bitch was an American punk rock band from Seattle, Washington. The band was active between 1990 and 1997 and released three albums over that time. The band formed at the same time as the emergence of the riot grrrl sub-genre, which is a subgenre of punk music from the early to mid-1990s that emphasized the role of women in rock music. The Riot Grrrl movement began as a feminist response to the violence and misogyny that became more prominent in punk music in the mid-to-late 1980s, and 7 Year Bitch, an all-female punk band, emerged as part of that sub-genre.

"Shelter from the Storm" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on September 17, 1974, and released on his 15th studio album, Blood on the Tracks, in 1975. It was later anthologized on the compilation album The Essential Bob Dylan in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Gits</span> American punk rock band

The Gits were an American punk rock band formed in Yellow Springs, Ohio, in 1986. As part of the burgeoning Seattle music scene of the early 1990s, they were known for their fiery live performances. Members included singer Mia Zapata, guitarist Joe Spleen, bassist Matt Dresdner and drummers Steve Moriarty, Bruce Ducheneaux and Bob Lee. They dissolved in 1993 after the murder of Zapata.

<i>Frenching the Bully</i> 1992 studio album by The Gits

Frenching the Bully is the debut studio album by Seattle punk rock band The Gits. It was originally released as a 12-track album on C/Z Records in 1992 but was later reissued in 2003 with bonus tracks and different cover art on the Broken Rekids label. "A stunning document of the talent ... [of] singer Mia Zapata ... She sings with such conviction, ferocity, and expressiveness that the lyrics become irrelevant. The band becomes irrelevant." –River Cities' Reader

<i>Seafish Louisville</i> 2000 compilation album by The Gits

Seafish Louisville is a compilation of songs by The Gits. It was released on the Broken Rekids label in 2000, seven years after the murder of the band's frontwoman, Mia Zapata. It is primarily a collection of live tracks and alternative takes, including the then newly discovered track "Whirlwind." The CD+ section of the CD includes the video for "Seaweed" as well as photographs and lyrics.

Indecision was an American hardcore punk band that was started in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1993, and officially disbanded in the summer of 2000 though they still play shows occasionally for charity.

<i>¡Viva Zapata!</i> 1994 studio album by 7 Year Bitch

¡Viva Zapata! is the debut studio album by American rock band 7 Year Bitch, released on May 20, 1994, through C/Z Records. Produced by Jack Endino, it was their first record with guitarist Roisin Dunne. The album's tone was influenced by the deaths of several people close to the band, including original guitarist Stefanie Sargent in 1992 and The Gits' vocalist Mia Zapata—who inspired its title and is depicted on its cover artwork—in 1993, although this was not intended as its general theme. The album's promotion was supported by Atlantic Records, who signed 7 Year Bitch a month prior to its release.

Trouser Enthusiasts are an electronic dance music production group, formed by Belfast-born Ian Masterson and David Green. The group is best known as producers of pop and dance remixes, having worked for, most prominently, Pet Shop Boys, Dannii Minogue, and Saint Etienne. They have produced only one original single, "Sweet Release".

Obediah Donnell "Obie" Jessie was an American R&B, rock and roll and jazz singer and songwriter. He recorded as Young Jessie in the 1950s and 1960s, and was known for his solo career, work with The Flairs and a brief stint in The Coasters. He later performed and recorded jazz as Obie Jessie.

Git is a term of insult denoting an unpleasant, silly, incompetent, annoying, senile, elderly or childish person. As a mild oath it is roughly on a par with prat and marginally less pejorative than berk. Typically a good-natured admonition with a strong implication of familiarity, git is more severe than twit or idiot but less severe than wanker, arsehole or twat when offence is intended.

<i>Evil Stig</i> 1995 studio album by Evil Stig

Evil Stig is a 1995 studio album by Evil Stig, a supergroup formed by Joan Jett and members of The Gits for a series of benefit concerts to fund the investigation into the 1993 murder of Gits singer Mia Zapata. The name Evil Stig is "Gits Live" in reverse. The album was released in 1995.

Mike Fraser is a Canadian record producer, engineer, and mixer. Fraser has recorded and mixed six records for AC/DC: The Razors Edge, Ballbreaker, Stiff Upper Lip, Black Ice, Rock or Bust, and Power Up. Fraser recorded and mixed the classic AC/DC anthem "Thunderstruck".

Timothy Andrew Sommer is an American music journalist, musician, record producer and former Atlantic Records A&R representative. Sommer was the bass player for the slowcore/dreampop band Hugo Largo.

Jack Endino is an influential audio engineer and musician particularly associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement.

"Precious Blood" is the debut single by American punk rock band The Gits, and their first official release. The record was released as a limited edition 7" single of only 800 copies by the local Seattle label Big Flaming Ego Records. Included in the track listing were early versions of "Precious Blood" and "Seaweed" as well as "Kings & Queens".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Dylan Gospel Tour</span> 1979–80 concert tour by Bob Dylan

The Bob Dylan Gospel Tour was a concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan that consisted of 79 concerts in North America in three legs, lasting from November 1, 1979 to May 21, 1980.

Mia Isobel Wray-McCann, known professionally as Mia Wray, is an Australian pop singer, songwriter and musician from Noosa, Queensland.

References

  1. Woodlief, Mark; Robbins, Ira. "Gits". Trouser Press. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  2. "The Gits". www.austinchronicle.com.
  3. "C/Z Records | The Gits". www.czrecords.com.
  4. Enter: The Conquering Chicken at AllMusic
  5. "TrouserPress.com :: Gits". www.trouserpress.com.
  6. "At last, closure for the Gits". Los Angeles Times. July 7, 2008.
  7. "Learn about the other Seattle rocker who died young". EW.com.