The Blind Leading the Naked

Last updated
The Blind Leading the Naked
The Blind Leading The Naked.jpg
Studio album by
Released1986
RecordedJuly – September 1985
Genre
Length37:36
Label Slash
Producer Jerry Harrison
Violent Femmes chronology
Hallowed Ground
(1984)
The Blind Leading the Naked
(1986)
3
(1988)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]

The Blind Leading the Naked is the third album by Violent Femmes. It was produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and released in 1986. The title is a play on the figure of speech "the blind leading the blind."

Contents

The Blind Leading the Naked was the band's first album to reach the Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number 84, and its only one to chart in Britain.

Production and recording

The band said Leo Kottke and Fred Frith were both persuaded to appear on the album after approaching them at their concerts. "I just went along and asked him if he'd like to come down and try something out in the studio," Ritchie said of Frith. [2]

Members of the band said they were unhappy with the choice of Harrison as producer, with Ritchie saying, "We knew Jerry and he'd seen us live and, uh, he didn't like it... And when I heard the reasons that he didn't like it, well, they were the reasons why we do like it! We didn't think he was right to produce music as weird as ours." Gano further claimed that Harrison had been suggested by Warners, "solely on the basis that he lives in Milwaukee, because we'd stipulated to them that we had to record there. This was outrageous from their point of view." [3]

Reception

AllMusic gave the album a positive review, stating the album was a "more mainstream effort" that "rocks harder" than previous albums. [1] People gave a positive review, stating "the group maintains enough humor and angst to keep even their religious songs fresh.... This third album gives more evidence that the Violent Femmes rank with the very best bands of the 1980s", while singling out the song "Breakin' Hearts" as a highlight. [4] However, in a retrospective of their debut album, The Atlantic mentions The Blind Leading the Naked is "their first unmitigated disaster, a crassly commercial piece of pandering." [5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gordon Gano, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Old Mother Reagan" 0:31
2."No Killing" 5:13
3."Faith" 4:14
4."Breakin' Hearts" 2:15
5."Special" 2:18
6."Love & Me Make Three"Brian Ritchie, Victor DeLorenzo2:53
7."Candlelight Song" 3:11
8."I Held Her in My Arms" 2:52
9."Children of the Revolution" Marc Bolan 4:19
10."Good Friend" 3:28
11."Heartache" 2:02
12."Cold Canyon" 3:22
13."Two People" 0:58
Cassette and import CD bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."World Without Mercy"Victor DeLorenzo4:06

Personnel

Violent Femmes

Additional musicians

Charts

Chart (1986)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [6] 31
United Kingdom (Official Charts Company) [7] 81
United States (Billboard 200) [8] 84

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Violent Femmes - The Blind Leading the Naked Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic . Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  2. Andy Gill. "Violent Femmes: Dangerous Visions". Rock's Backpages .(Subscription required.)
  3. Sandy Robertson. "Violent Femmes: Femme-Inism". Rock's Backpages .(Subscription required.)
  4. "Picks and Pans Review: The Blind Leading the Naked". People.com.
  5. "Why Violent Femmes' Classic Debut Still Seems So Young, 30 Years Later". The Atlantic . 2013-04-16. Archived from the original on 2023-04-20.
  6. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 330. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  7. "Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.
  8. Whitburn, Joel; Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums, 1955–1996; p. 819. ISBN   0898201179