Grand Guignol Review

Band	Naked City
Album	Grand Guignol
Type	Album (Studio full-length)
Released	1992
Genres	Avant-garde Jazz, Grindcore
Labels	Avant
Length	1:01:37

Album rating : 40 / 100
Votes : 2 (1 review)

Reviewer :

SilentScream213 Rating : 40 / 100

September 27, 2021

An interesting development in the discography of the mad maniac John Zorn. While the previous Naked City albums were pure Avant-Garde Jazz and Grindcore, this one has a healthy dose of Classical and Ambient sensibilities. Of course, these are all created with the same ensemble of instruments as far as I can tell, so it’s usually a dissonant hum, but certainly interesting to hear this group cover composers such as Debussy.

The rest is classic Naked City, and I’m not sure giving this the Avant-Garde Metal title is truly deserved. It’s a bizarre affair, that’s for sure, but as most tracks are short, different elements are usually kept separate as opposed to woven together, making this a very eclectic collection of songs rather than a unique genre that ties them all together.

If you like John Zorn’s mad rambling music, you’ll surely like this. If not, you might appreciate some of the Classical stuff, so it’s worth a shot.

1 like

Track listing (Songs)

	title		rating	votes
1.	Grand Guignol	17:40	45	2
2.	La cathédrale engloutie	6:24	50	2
3.	Three Preludes op. 74 i. Douloureux déchirant	1:17	52.5	2
4.	Three Preludes op. 74 ii. Très lent, contemplatif	1:42	55	2
5.	Three Preludes op. 74 iii. Allegro drammatico	0:48	52.5	2
6.	Prophetiae sibyllarum	1:46	57.5	2
7.	The Cage	2:00	55	2
8.	Louange à l'éternité de Jésus	7:07	60	2
9.	Blood Is Thin	1:00	45	2
10.	Thrash Jazz Assassin	0:45	45	2
11.	Dead Spot	0:31	45	2
12.	Bonehead	0:51	45	2
13.	Piledriver	0:33	45	2
14.	Shangkuan Ling-Feng	1:14	45	2
15.	Numbskull	0:29	45	2
16.	Perfume of a Critic's Burning Flesh	0:24	45	2
17.	Jazz Snob Eat Shit	0:24	45	2
18.	The Prestidigitator	0:43	45	2
19.	No Reason to Believe	0:26	45	2
20.	Hellraiser	0:39	45	2
21.	Torture Garden	0:35	45	2
22.	Slan	0:23	45	2
23.	The Ways of Pain	0:31	45	2
24.	The Noose	0:10	42.5	2
25.	Sack of Shit	0:43	45	2
26.	Blunt Instrument	0:53	45	2
27.	Osaka Bondage	1:14	45	2
28.	Shallow Grave	0:40	45	2
29.	Kaoru	0:50	45	2
30.	Dead Dread	0:45	45	2
31.	Billy Liar	0:10	45	2
32.	Victims of Torture	0:20	45	2
33.	Speedfreaks	0:48	45	2
34.	New Jersey Scum Swamp	0:41	45	2
35.	S-M Sniper	0:14	45	2
36.	Pigfucker	0:23	45	2
37.	Cairo Chop Shop	0:22	45	2
38.	Facelifter	0:54	45	2
39.	Whiplash	0:19	45	2
40.	The Blade	0:35	45	2
41.	Gob of Spit	0:18	45	2

Line-up (members)

John Zorn : Alto Sax, Vocals
Bill Frisell : Guitars
Wayne Horvitz : Keyboards
Fred Frith : Bass
Joey Baron : Drums
Yamatsuka Eye : Vocals
Bob Dorough : Vocals (on "the cage")

1 reviews

cover art		Artist	Album review	Reviewer	Rating	Date	Likes
		Naked City	▶ Grand Guignol Review (1992)	SilentScream213	40	Sep 27, 2021	1

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▶ Grand Guignol Review (1992)

SilentScream213 40/100

Sep 27, 2021 Likes : 1