Solo albums
Last Day On Earth
About this album
Released on April 26, 1994. MCA Records MCD 11037
All songs written by John Cale and Bob Neuwirth.
Tracks:
- Overture
- Café Shabu
- Pastoral Angst
- Who's In Charge?
- Short Of Time
- Angel Of Death
- Paradise Nevada
- Old China
- Ocean Life
- Instrumental
- Modern World
- Streets Come Alive
- Secrets
- Maps Of The World
- Broken Hearts
- The High And Mighty Road
"When I got through with Drella I went to St Ann's and got them to commission the project. Then MCA popped up and said lets do it. I'd known Bob for years and we jumped at the chance. I don't know any record label who could have foreseen what this piece was going to be. I'm really gratified with the results... the concept is pretty expansive. The thread between the songs could have been pretty much anything. There are so many hooks thrown away in the record that you could fashion more than one story. It depends on what kind of story you want to tell, whether you want a romantic story, a tragic story, or a social commentary story... all those are possible as the record stands."
The album is marketed as 'a blueprint for theatre'. The theatre piece never happens, although the record label had high hopes and promoted it as such:
Last Day On Earth
is a blueprint for theatre.
A 'tourist' is guided by
Opportunity to a Great Cafe.
Inside he is introduced to the
habitués whose tales, thoughts
and experiences become an Interior/exterior travelogue
as told in song and interlude.
Eventually the 'tourist' discovers
that while topographic mappings
are subject to sudden
rearrangement, interior shifts
remain predictable and timeless.
Musicians:
Michael Brook: infinite guitar
John Cale: vocals, keyboards, viola
Gerry Hemingway: percussion and sampling
Bob Neuwirth: vocals, banjo, harmonica
Jenni Muldaur: guest vocalist
Ben Perowsky: drums
Eric Senko: bass
David Tronz: guitar
David Soldier: string arrangements performed by the Soldier String Quartet: David Soldier, Lisa R. Gutkin, Dawn M. Buckholz, Alicia A. Svigals.
Other credits:
Produced by John Cale and Bob Neuwirth
Engineering & mixing: Roger Moutenot
Production assistance: Andy Green
Art direction: Vartan
Design: Taki Ono, Ayako Nagano
Photography: Mary Ellen Mark
Cover Art: Tanadori Yokoo
Recorded at Skyline, New York, USA
Mixed at RPM Studios, New York, USA
Mastering Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound