This is often one of the most maligned album in the Spooky Tooth discography, probably because the
combination of avant garde composer Pierre Henry with Spooky Tooth is regarded as a mismatch, much
like Lou Red and Metallica decades later and the maligned Lulu in 2011. One listen to Ceremony and
you get the impression that a.) Neither Pierre Henry nor Spooky Tooth listened to each others work,
and so it sounds as if Pierre Henry did his thing, then Spooky Tooth their thing, and then have them
combined, and voila! or b.) you get the impression that neither Pierre Henry had an understanding of
rock music nor Spooky Tooth had an understanding of avant garde. So I can understand why people
might run at the thought of this album, even I admit that some of Pierre Henry's part threatens to
drown out Spooky Tooth's music. Thanks to the Electric Prunes releasing Mass in F Minor, I imagined
this was the reason for Spooky Tooth to do their own rock Mass, but unlike the Prunes, they didn't
use Gregorian chanting in a rock context. Now let me tell you that Spooky Tooth's end of things is
nothing short of amazing. They really rock like there's no tomorrow. I can't believe this is that
same Gary Wright later of Dream Weaver fame, because he really rips it on organ here! The problem
comes with Pierre Henry. It's like he never even heard what the band put down before he did his
part, as mentioned earlier, so it sounds like a bunch of random sounds that rarely seem to go
appropriately with the music. One could say it sounds like a bad Krautrock album, because the best
Krautrock out there the musicians involved had a full understanding of both rock and avant garde (in
fact several Can members were Stockhausen disciples) and took that knowledge to their full
advantage. There's a couple parts of this album that annoys me, particularly "Jubilation". Although
the band puts on some killer bluesy guitar riffs on that song, you keep hearing this "bi bi bi bi bi
bi bi bi bi bi" voices that NEVER stops. Despite the obvious flaws, there are some really brilliant
and amazing moments put by the band, and if they did this by themselves without Pierre Henry, this
could probably felt as one of Spooky Tooth's defining moments. Yet I still want to give it a four
star rating (it would be five if Pierre Henry took his approach better) because I was blown away by
what the band were doing.
Songs / Tracks Listing
1. Have Mercy (7:52)
2. Jubilation (8:27)
3. Confession (6:56)
4. Prayer (10:52)
5. Offering (3:22)
6. Hosanna (7:37)
2. Jubilation (8:27)
3. Confession (6:56)
4. Prayer (10:52)
5. Offering (3:22)
6. Hosanna (7:37)
Line-up / Musicians
- Pierre Henry / synthesizer, electronics
- Gary Wright / vocals, organ, keyboards
- Luther Grosvenor / guitars
- Mike Harrison / vocals, keyboards
- Andy Leigh / bass, guitar
- Mike Kellie / drums and percussion
- Gary Wright / vocals, organ, keyboards
- Luther Grosvenor / guitars
- Mike Harrison / vocals, keyboards
- Andy Leigh / bass, guitar
- Mike Kellie / drums and percussion
Total time 45:06
