Boom Crash Opera Born Classic But Not Again

Boom Crash Opera are an Australian Band that reached the peak of their popularity in the mid to late nineteen eighties. They are a band that I knew about at that time but was never really excited by until they released their ill fated double album Born and Born Again in 1995 (Album cover pictured).

At the time of its release I was very much into emerging Australian musical acts and was also looking out for new sounds that were different and had kind of a futuristic/electronic sound. Artists that I was buying at the time included; Swoop, Nine Inch Nails and Pop Will Eat Its Self. As well as a really interesting release by David Bowie, the concept album, Outside.

Born was a fairly radical departure for Boom Crash Opera (BCO). The first single, Gimme, was often compared to the sounds of Gary Glitter, particularly his single, Rock n Roll part 2, because of the pounding drum loops. Watch the video below.

My favorite single from the album is dissemble which probably went nowhere on the charts but its electronic sound and seemingly reflective lyrics always strike a chord with me. Lines like "No... we haven't met, 'cause I've got a memory too big to forget." whilst not particularly deep have a naive complexity to them. Kind of like a machine carefully trying to understand how to link words together in order to express meaning.

Born is one of the few albums that I can say I like every track but what makes it interesting, apart from the music, is the themes, look and style of how the album was promoted.

One could argue the album was ahead of its time dealing with mass consumerism, violence, self obsession and futuristic machine domination by an increasingly computer reliant world. Born's album cover suggested the idea of people tuning out of reality by living more and more in a virtual world.

The band members promoted the album wearing minimalist, black, 'plastic' looking costumes that wouldn't have looked out of place in the movie The Matrix (which wouldn't be released for another four years).

Even the CD its self included computer multimedia presentations including two song video clips, Gimme and Tongue Tied.

The book that came with the CD doesn't include song lyrics, instead it features passages of text that extend or suggest themes and ideas covered in each song. There's complete instructions for creating your own 'cryo-doll', 'primal regression therapy in three easy steps' and 'how to turn your car into a psychotromic accelerator'.

As a concept album Born should be a classic. It's filled with so many ideas. I bought it when it was released in 1995 and songs from it are currently on my MP3 player (which only has 1GB of space so I can't just stick my entire catalog of CD's on it).

The sad thing is that this was released as a double album in a double CD cover (the old style, double thick case). It came with a cardboard circle where the Born Again CD was intended to be, when released, according to the circle, in April of 1995. It never was. Born wasn't a commercial success despite its singles receiving generous radio airplay. Record label BMG dropped the release of Born Again as a result.

To this day other than two singles from Born Again, Soundtrack and Radio, available on BCO's release, Best Things - Greatest Hits (1998), the album has never been released.

One can only assume the album was complete or nearing completion because the release of Born came with a complete track list for Born Again. The complete list includes the tracks; Analytical, Radio, Soundtrack, Stay Where You Are, Shallow, Mind Over Matter, Hit The Beach, Bomb For You, Beating Addiction, Shivers, Come a Little Closer.

Perhaps there was even another book full of ideas as per Born?

I recently picked up Gizmo Mantra (1997), the last new release from BCO, in a bargain sale. Not because I was waiting for it to be bargain priced but I never knew they released anything after Born. I just happened to see it and bought it on the spot - hoping it might have some of the brilliance of Born.

To be honest, Gizmo Mantra, whilst you can see some of the themes echoing through, never stood a chance against an album I've loved for 13 years. It's not that Gizmo Mantra is bad - it isn't - it's just that Born captures my imagination and continues to do so.

With bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails releasing entire albums directly to their fans online, I hope BCO will take a leaf out of their book.

Personally I'd prefer them to release Born Again on CD with any book or extras that may have come with it had it been released back in 1995. I'd buy it as a mail order item from their web site (if they had a proper web site rather than a Facebook page maintained by the band).

Mostly I'd just like to have the complete concept double album. It's bugged me for 13 years not having Born Again. I know the band is still together and have gone back to where they started with the Aussie Pub circuit. Somewhere in their 'unreleased' pile of songs there's a whole album of potential brilliance that completes the MUST HAVE classic release that is Born.

Skateboard Trick Tips: Two Ways to Ollie North (Ollie One foot)

You have to be quick to see my Ollie Norths! Ollie One Foots, otherwise known as the Ollie North, is one of those skateboard tricks you learn and then tend not to do very much as more interesting trick challenges grab your attention. However it does look really cool if you learn how to kick your front foot well past the nose of your skateboard. Still shot from Braille Skateboarding's Ollie North tutorial. I was inspired to make my video below, showing two different techniques to achieve a successful Ollie One Foot, when I not only saw that Braille Skateboarding's Tutorial used a different method to the one I had learned but also, when I looked at various other video tutorials, I discovered yet another technique, with no one using the method I had originally learned. Braille's method is to simply Ollie and drag your front foot past the front of your board. The second method I came across in several video tutorials is to Ollie, drag your front foot and tap your

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de

Review: FP Footwear FINO Skate Shoes

FP Footwear FINO Skate Shoes I first saw FP's FINO skate shoes in a video by YouTube channel, Braille Skateboarding, titled, THE FIRST EVER NON NEWTONIAN FLUID SKATE SHOES!? As someone whose feet hurt and bruise relatively easily just from the basic tricks of skateboarding (Ollies, Pop Shuv-its etc.) the 90% absorption of impact energy selling point seemed like an ideal solution for minimizing my injuries. A day later I placed an order through FP's website . Ordinarily I wouldn't mention Customer Service but I can't let the lack of communication on my order slide. FP's website says to expect delivery within 7-14 days of your order. After close to two weeks, my order was still marked as being processed. I sent an email asking for any kind of update, to no response. A day or two later my order was marked as completed but still no signs of shoes in my mail? About two weeks later (just over a full month of placing my order) the shoes arrived. I'm sur

Why Your Backside 180 Ollies Suck (Probably, if they're like mine)

Backside 180 Ollie by TET I've been doing backside 180 ollies on my skateboard for almost as long as I've been skateboarding. It's not really that hard a trick to learn, except it is, if you want to do them well. Usually, when I'm practicing my backside 180 ollies on flat, my first attempt will be my best, and then my technique will kind of deteriorate from there. Except for that one jaggy attempt where I successfully land the backside 180 ollie then continue to pivot on my back truck another 180 degrees. Which is only a cool trick if you actually meant to do it. Recently I spent an entire driveway skate session working on my backside 180 ollies. My goal was to get them higher, rotate my body more effectively, and to bend my back leg more (a common problem for most people is not really bending the back leg as you ollie). You can watch my session and decide if I made any progress in the video below. The thing is, I know everything I'm doing wrong with my backside 180

Can You Learn Skateboarding Basics on a Cheap Skateboard?

$20, Mambo 31" x 8", Department Store Skateboard. Over the years I've watched many high profile YouTube skateboarders repeatedly create videos where they purchase a cheap, department store skateboard, ride it like they would their regular professional skateboard, until it breaks (usually within an hour or so), and claim that as a reason for steering clear of these products. Inadvertently what they're doing is creating less demand for cheap skateboards, meaning it's less likely department stores will stock them, resulting in no easy way for first time skaters to 'test the waters' to see if skating is really for them. Even worse, parents looking to get their children into a new sport, may not even see skateboarding as an option as they browse through the department store sports section. At the time of writing, Australian department stores have shelves filled with many different brands of scooters, alongside a small shelf or two of skateboards (and

Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 (2023) No Spoilers

If you've enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 1 and Volume 2 then Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 will not disappoint. I would almost go so far as to call it the best in the series... except seeing the first movie for the first time is still one of my best memories of the MCU. While it's not essential to the story if you didn't see the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+ it does kind of lead into and set up where the Guardians are at in Volume 3 quite nicely. In this installment Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is still not coping with the loss of his timeline's Gamora (Zoe Saldada) when suddenly the team is attacked leaving Rocket (Bradley Cooper) in a very bad way. From then on it's a race to save Rocket as we learn quite a bit about his origin in the process. This movie is slightly darker than the first two and, if you're concerned about the animal cruelty that is causing some people to not want to see the film again, keep in mind, it's j

Movie Review: Bullet Train (2022) No Spoilers

I honestly don't understand why Bullet Train didn't do well in theaters? It's basically a live action, bonkers, cartoon but it's fun, has witty dialogue, quirky characters, and plenty of action. It's definitely underrated as something that very much reminds me of a cross between a Guy Ritchie and Edgar Wright film in terms of how it's written, filmed, and edited. The plot centers around unlucky assassin, Ladybug (Brad Pitt) who is hired to retrieve a briefcase containing a ransom from on board a Japanese Bullet Train. Unfortunately he's not the only one after the case. Confusion and mayhem ensues. The only thing that really bothered me is that the movie seems almost devoid of regular people on the train and at any of the stations. Those that are present, including the staff of the train, seem to be blissfully unaware of what is happening around them despite the interior of the train becoming increasingly more damaged and the body count climbing. The further

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog