6 replies to this topic

[jmoog]

A couple of years ago I compiled a version of "Niandra" according to John's original vision for the album (the tracklisting inside the CD itself). The version I came up with ran as such

1. Running Away Into You
2. As Can Be
3. Beach Arab
4. Big Takeover
5. Smile From The Streets You Hold
6. My Smile Is A Rifle
7. Bought Her Soul (Well I've Been)
8. Ants
9. Soul Removal (Height Down)
10. Your Pussy's Glued To A Building On Fire
11. Blood On My Neck From Success
12. Yell 'O' In Zbras (Ten To Butter Blood Voodoo)

Now I know that "Soul Removal" was intended for "Niandra" but it's anyones guess as to where in the tracklisting it would appear. On the tracklisting inside the "Niandra" CD there are two songs blackened out. One song I assume is "Soul Removal". I have no idea what the other song is (it could also be "Bought Her Soul" which John then crossed out to place elsewhere in the tracklist since it is written in very small letters between "Smile Is A Rifle" and "Ants")

My reasoning for compiling this as such is to listen to the flow of songs as John had written them in the tracklisting. Does anyone have any thoughts on the above tracklist?

[Iva]

I think the tracks were omitted out of respect for River Phoenix, who died a couple of months before Niandra LaDes was out.

As for everything else, I don't think that the order matters, unlike it does for The Empyrean. Niandra LaDes does not strike me as a concept album.

[jmoog]

Yes, "Soul Removal" and "Bought Her Soul" were removed from "Niandra" at the request of River Phoenix's family after his passing.

Also I agree "Niandra" is not a concept album but I think it is interesting to listen to the tracks in the order that John had originally envisioned them. It's a nice alternative to the album as we've come to know it in it's "official" running order. I just wish I knew for sure what the two blackened out songs were.

[Automatic Writing]

Iva, on 19 December 2011 - 11:46 PM, said:

As for everything else, I don't think that the order matters, unlike it does for The Empyrean. Niandra LaDes does not strike me as a concept album.

I'm gonna disagree with you on this one, Iva. Regardless if it's a concept album, I feel like all (genius) artists arrange tracks and albums with the idea of creating a certain feeling or ebb and flow. I definitely see this on Shadows Collide with People, the experimental electronic tracks. 00 ghost is sandwiched between everyperson and wednesday's songs, two really pleasant, soulful, simple and straight forward songs. Velvet Underground albums also have a real attention to flow and feeling with their tracklistings, particularly White Light/White Heat which features Here She Comes Now as kind of a peaceful interlude to a chaotic album. I'd also mention King of Limbs as a similar album that isn't particularly a concept album, but creates a certain mood through the order the tracks appear in.

Anyways, maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I did find this post really interesting and plan to listen to Niandra in this order shortly. I kind of stumbled upon the riff to Running Away Into You while playing guitar recently and I've been obsessed with the song since; it's amazing that as the first song it would kind of set the tone/mood for the album.

[Iva]

The first sentence of the second paragraph - yeah, exactly.

[slim]

I think it's fairly interesting to listen to this track order. But I'm a person that ceates all kinds of lists in his itunes to compile music or change sequences of loved records (ie: the Mellon Collie vinyl version track order list).

As to the "unknown" song in Frusciante's tracklist... We'll probably never know...

[jmoog]

slim, on 21 December 2011 - 09:24 AM, said:

I think it's fairly interesting to listen to this track order. But I'm a person that ceates all kinds of lists in his itunes to compile music or change sequences of loved records (ie: the Mellon Collie vinyl version track order list).

As to the "unknown" song in Frusciante's tracklist... We'll probably never know...

I very much like the "Mellon Collie" vinyl tracklisting. It's vastly different from the CD and the whole flow of the album in changed considerably.

I too am a fan of compiling alternate tracklisting playlists in iTunes. For instance a lot of classic albums featured significantly different tracklistings in their cassette versions and these are fun to listen to. The running order of Pink Floyd's cassettes in particular were very different from album to album and the flow of these albums differ greatly from their vinyl counterparts. In the case of "Niandra" I think this alternate running order carries more weight as it was John's original vision for the album rather than a reordering of songs to simply accomodate sides of even tape length for cassettes. It's interesting that some of my favorite "Niandra" songs ("Curtains", "Mascara", "Been Insane", and "Skin Blues") seem to have not even been considered for the album in it's original version.

Off topic somewhat I'll never cease to be amazed that "Outside Space" didn't make either the "Niandra" or "Smile" CD's at all. I know it made it onto the "Estrus" single but in my opinion it is one of the most majestic songs John ever recorded. Oh what I would give to have a great sounding CD version of that track. I own the 45 and I've made a good transfer of it but the snippet that fades out at the end of "Mascara" sounds so much better than any of the transfers I've heard including my own.