By now you have all heard the sad news: Ride do not exist anymore. What is left now is their work for ever graven on numerous CDs and our memories. When the split was announced (like a bitter Christmas present!), I was not really surprised. Tensions had undermined the band for quite a time. I've often feared such a sad ending, in particular at the time of Carnival of Light. Everything seemed to push the band towards an early grave: disappointing album sales, the cancelled US tour, too few European concerts, hardly no promotion. Ride were being buried before they could give out their last breath.
Then came the UK and French tours during which I met the band several times - spirits were high again. The concerts were great and at the end of the year Andy told me he wouldn't have minded if the tour had been longer. At the same time he was already looking ahead, thinking of the next album for which ha had already written new songs.
Despite this cheerful atmosphere, once the band was offstage, the separation between Mark and Andy remained obvious. I have hardly seen them together during the last two or three years. However good colleagues don't necessarily make good friends and I'd always hoped Ride would be stronger than its members.
Finally there was the concert at the Jericho Tavern, in December 1994. That was the last Ride gig I saw; how ironical that it should have been in the venue where the band started. Before walking offstage, Mark and Andy shook hands, as the obvious sign that they had reconciled and that they wanted to go on under Ride's banner. One year later, the break is announced. Mark has left. We've all gone blank.
I can only guess what happened during 1995. All the impressions left after my various meetings with the band and the comments published in the press show the logical consequence that was born from two frustrated minds: Andy felt he was not given the credit he deserved; Mark felt his musical influence within Ride was sharply decreasing. Actually reasons hardly matter when reality strikes hard; we must now learn to live without Ride.
Living without Ride means living without their concerts and the emotions they generated. Music, thank God, is still with us. When I first heard Tarantula, i realized what the spli meant: I would never heard those tracks live. I could imagine Andy lifting up his guitar, Mark bent over his, Loz drumming like a fool, and Steve concentrating on his bass lines but this familiar scene would never appear to me anymore. The worst thing is that the album demands to be played live! Most of the tracks are very rock, direct, sweating; the musical diversions they would allow have no limit. Suddenly Ride's absence is awfully painful.
We may wonder what would have happened if Carnival of Light had had the success it deserved, if Ride had reached the top as they so much wanted to. Sometimes I also wonder why Mark and Andy were fighting for a leadership they could have simply shared, like other bands do. However, sighs and regrets will not help. We must look to the future. Music goes on even if Ride do not. The phoenix might get born again out of its ashes in as beautiful and powerful reincarnations.
I don't know how to start this. My feelings roll from one extreme to another according to the image conjured up in my mind. At times I'm so happy to listen to this vivid, rich songs, full of a sometimes confused enthusiasm; but at others I feel sorry when I realize the album is only a testament and these tracks, full of life, are the poisoned gift from a band that no longer exist. When Andy sings "everything's gonna be allright", I smile bitterly, when Mark whispers "let it go, ride the wind", my smile turns sarcastic. The ill-fated Tarantula is pushing the knife too deep by proving Ride still had a lot to say and do. I do not want to listen to it all the time, but I spend days humming the tunes in my head. And God, aren't these songs easy to hum...!
When I received the album tape, I was prepared to hate it. Then how easy it would have been to say the split was the best thing they could do. However, despite the initial shock of discovering a hard, very "American" sound or, on the contrary, acoustic, stripped-to-the-core songs, I was seduced. These rocks gems are just irresistible.
For once, the single, Black Nite Crash, correctly paves the way for the album, at least for the "heavy rock" half of it. The guitars are infuriated, Andy hammers out the words more than he sings them (which does actuallu suit him!) and the rhythm never slows down. It's extremely catchy and yet, not obvious in a way. Dead Man, Gonna Be Alright, Dawn Patrol and Burnin' share the same energy, albeit with varied styles. Gonna Be Alright is fast as a lightning while Burnin' is perfectly balanced between soft vocals and sharp guitar riffs (Mouse Trap revisited in the Seventies way!). And I just luuuv that "never stop you burning" break introducing the great instrumental conclusion of the song!
The excellent Dead Man and the "bluesy" Dawn Patrol are particular in that they are the only two songs on Tarantula where Andy and Mark's vocals completely merge. Now this is another element that made Ride so strong: two different tones of vocals which combine so well, spiral up together to a climax hardly equalled when they try on their own. God, did they ever realize they were so good together? Oh well...
I find it hard to transcribe in writing all the - great - impressions left by these five songs but the general idea is that "it fucking rocks, man!".
The other seven tracks are quite different. Two of them are familiar: Sunshine and Walk On Water were indeed written in early 1993 and, although the second was regularly performed live, the first song (formerly She Gives Me Sunshine, ex-She's So Fine) was abandoned just before the Carnival Of Light tour. Whit its optimistic and cheerful beat Sunshine will have you dance around endlessly while Walk On Water reminds us of the candid pop more typical of Ride's third album. I must say here that I preferred its live version to this somewhat too polished studio out-take.
Deep Inside My Pocket stands clearly apart. The rhythm is between slow nad fast and this compelling song is based more on vocals than on instruments. It is also one of the two tracks lead sung by Mark and that difference alone gives it a distinct touch. Since I'm talking about Mark, let's talk about Ride the Wind, the second song he sings. It is a track which I fell for immediately, probably because of its extremely romantic softness. It also brings back an element that was once one or Ride's main characteristics: the repetition of one guitar chord which creates a deliciously hypnotic effect. Organs (probably played by our friend Nick Moorbath) also join in perfectly to enhance the melody and make it light and subtle, in contrast with the general style of the album.
Closing side A, the long languorous slow of Mary Anne shows yet another style. The instrumental ending seems unnecessarily long to me but this is a weak critique. This is another song that wil stay on your mind for hours!
Finally the songs beginning and ending side B are two acoustic Sixties-flavoured tracks. Listening to Castle On The Hill makes it hard to forget the drama underlying the album. This is not a Ride song: Andy plays and sings it on his own. The song is beautiful but, under these circumstances, only brings about bitter thoughts, at least for now. Starlight Motel, which shares the same retro sound, is more of a band song, a bit like I Don't Know Where It Comes From. It is light, has an extremely catchy refrain and gives a happy ending to the album. A "happy ending"? Oh dear...
Hand claps are the last sound on the album. Right. The show is over.
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