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Penthouse
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| List Price: | £16.99 |
| Price: | £14.19 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery on orders over £5. Details |
Availability: Usually dispatched within 7 to 11 days
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk
9 new or used available from £10.29
Average customer review:
Track Listing
- Chinatown
- Sideshow by the Seashore
- Moon Palace
- Double Feature
- 23 Minutes in Brussels
- Lost in Space
- Rhythm King
- Kalamazoo
- Hedgehog
- Freakin' and Peakin'
- Bonnie and Clyde [*]
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #135114 in Music
- Released on: 1995-08-08
- Number of discs: 1
- Format: Import
Customer Reviews
Luna's masterpiece
Luna's masterpiece. Though all of their albums are worth buying, this is the one you should (MUST!) have. An understated, gentle delight on first listen - shimmering guitars to die for, varied and lively rhythms, Dean's intimate and textured vocals - Penthouse will slowly grow on you. More and more layers, and finer and finer touches, emerge with each listen. I own over 800 albums and have no hesitation in naming this one of the best constructed, played and produced rock albums ever. And where else can you find a record where theremins (23 Minutes in Brussels) and French lyrics (the 'hidden' Bonnie & Clyde) work so perfectly?
"Penthouse" is definitely one of the albums of the '90s.
On first listening, I was entranced by Dean Waring's Lou Reed lead vocal: "In the tiny, tiny hours..." Kind (but not sappy) guitar riffs and unforced rhythms dominate this album, and make it perfect for those lazy nights in. It divides into two halves, the second being one big, delicious unwind, and each ending with a six-minute song. "23 minutes in Brussels" mooches beautifully from unhurried groove to urgency, and as an extra treat, the album ends with Luna's cello-covered cover of Serge Gainsbourg's "Bonnie et Clyde", Waring's voice again perfectly suited to the material. And "Penthouse" sounds like its sleeve photo, the blurred night city - surely that counts as extra?
Truly a masterpiece!
Beautifully recorded electric guitars (Sorcerer studio in New York-it sounds like an absolutely perfect recording environment, every track having a beautiful sense of reverb and space) add ambience and tension to a perfect set of ambiguous lyrics. Extra care seems to have been taken over every detail on this album, but at the same time it does not come across as pompous, tedious or overblown (in contrast to Coldplay or Oasis for example). Instead it sounds as if it probably took only about two weeks to make, rather than two years which is the 'rock star' average, but also that it was played by master musicians. Indeed, the divine playing of Tom Verlaine even graces two tracks here. What more do you want?
