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| Welcoming a New Ice Age | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1985 | |||
| Studio | Westlake; Track Record; Music Grinder, Melrose | |||
| Genre | New wave | |||
| Length | 42:11 | |||
| Label | Tabb | |||
| Producer | Greg Penny | |||
| Gleaming Spires chronology | ||||
| ||||
Welcoming a New Ice Age is the third and final studio album by American new wave pop group Gleaming Spires. It was produced by Greg Penny. [1]
By 1985, bassist/lead vocalist Leslie Bohem and drummer David Kendrick's tenure in Sparks had begun to draw to a close. Starting with 1983's In Outer Space , the Mael brothers had started using the LinnDrum for demos, leading to simpler drum patterns that Kendrick would later add cymbals and hi-hats over. [2] By 1986's Music That You Can Dance To, there was little to no involvement from any of their 1980s backing band, despite being credited on the album, and it ended up being the final Sparks album they were featured on in any capacity. [3] [4]
Cutting ties with Posh Boy, who released their previous two LPs, the Spires signed with Tabb Records, a Los Angeles-based indie label. In addition, Greg Penny, who would later produce the likes of Elton John and k.d. lang, was brought in as producer in place of Stephen Hague. Stylistically, the album was far more eclectic and experimental than their previous releases, stretching from the anthemic "big music" sound of opening track "Mercy," the mid-tempo balladry of "Tearaway" and "Unprotected," the country-tinged "Your Secret Room" and "Blowing Up My Life", and the Motown pastiche "Bigger Than Life", building on their new wave foundations. [5] [6] Like the previous two albums, the album's back cover features humorous riffs on the album title, including greeting the Mesozoic era, annihilating the Triassic period, walking on a well lit street, and get rich quick with the Gleaming Spires.
A planned US tour in support of the album was halted by the mysterious disappearance of guitarist Bob Haag shortly before the start of the tour, and the band dissolved shortly afterwards. Bohem later became a screenwriter for films such as Dante's Peak and Twenty Bucks ; Kendrick later joined Devo for the albums Total Devo and Smooth Noodle Maps after the departure of previous drummer Alan Myers. [4] [7] [8]
Welcoming a New Ice Age was originally released on vinyl in 1985 by Tabb Records. [1] In 2021, the album was reissued on CD and to streaming services by Omnivore Recordings. [9]
All tracks are written by Les Bohem and David Kendrick, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mercy" | 3:51 | |
| 2. | "Welcoming a New Ice Age" | 4:24 | |
| 3. | "Tearaway" | Les Bohem | 4:39 |
| 4. | "No One Coming Over" | Les Bohem | 2:33 |
| 5. | "Your Secret Room" | Les Bohem | 3:45 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bigger Than Life" | 3:10 | |
| 2. | "The Things I Have Done to Our Love" | 3:58 | |
| 3. | "Blowing Up My Life" | 3:46 | |
| 4. | "What's Coming Next" | 3:15 | |
| 5. | "Unprotected" | Les Bohem | 3:12 |
| 6. | "Harm" | 5:38 |
Credits are adapted from the Welcoming a New Ice Age liner notes. [1]
The Spires are:
"The Horns of Desire":
"The Passionettes" - background vocals:
Plus:
Devo is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic lineup consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales, along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", the song that gave the band mainstream popularity.
Robert Edward Casale Jr., or "Bob 2", was an American musician, composer and record producer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as the keyboardist and rhythm guitarist of the new wave band Devo, which released a Top 20 hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It". The band has maintained a cult following throughout its existence. He was the younger brother of their co-founder and bass guitarist Gerald Casale.
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In Outer Space is the twelfth studio album by American pop band Sparks, released in April 1983 by Atlantic Records. Brothers Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks self-produced the album.
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Gleaming Spires was an American new wave pop group in the 1980s.
"Girl U Want" is a 1980 single by American new wave band Devo. It was the first single released from the album Freedom of Choice.
"I Predict" is a song by the Los Angeles new wave band Sparks. It was released in 1982 as the first single from Angst in My Pants, although an effort was made to release "Eaten by the Monster of Love" as a second single. The group promoted the single with an eclectic performance on Saturday Night Live. They also performed "Mickey Mouse", another Angst in My Pants track. It was their first single to ever enter the Billboard Hot 100 charts in America.
David Kendrick is an American rock drummer who is a former member of Gleaming Spires and Devo, and has recorded and toured with Sparks. He is based in Los Angeles, California.
"With All My Might" is a song by American pop and rock duo Sparks, which was released in 1984 as the lead single from their thirteenth studio album Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat (1984). The song was written by Ron Mael and Russell Mael, and produced by Ian Little. "With All My Might" failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100 but reached No. 4 on the Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart.
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