Spacemen 3: Playing With Fire 1989 ( 2 CD Remastered 2003)

 
Formed in 1982 in the town of Rugby by Pete Kember (Sonic Boom) and Jason Pierce (J. Spaceman), Spacemen 3 were to become one of the most important bands of the eighties, with their offshoots destined to spread out and become equally as vital in the nineties. Spacemen 3 and Jesus And Mary

Chain were the godfathers of the shoegazer and drone-rock scene which blossomed in the U.K. at the close of the '80s. But while both bands showed an obvious affinity for the pioneering sounds of The Velvet Underground, they otherwise found different sources of inspiration, with S3 masterminds Sonic Boom (Pete Kember) and J Spaceman (Jason Pierce) eschewing the The Beach Boys influenced pop symphonics favored by the J&MC's Reid Brothers and instead channeling noisy minimalists ranging from John Lee Hooker to Red Krayola to Suicide. Both founding members have enjoyed considerable success with their respective subsequent projects: Spectrum and Spiritualized.
                                                       

[Artist Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Spacemen 3 were psychedelic in the loosest sense of the word; their guitar explorations were colorfully mind-altering, but not in the sense of the acid rock of the '60s. Instead, the band developed its own

minimalistic psychedelia, relying on heavily distorted guitars to clash and produce their own harmonic overtones; frequently, they would lead up to walls of distortion with overamplified acoustic guitars and synths. Often the band would jam on one chord or play a series of songs, all in the same tempo and key. Though this approach was challenging, often bordering on the avant-garde, Spacemen 3 nevertheless gained a dedicated cult following. After releasing several albums in the late '80s, the band fell apart after in 1991.
                                                                                                         

In 1982, Sonic Boom (guitar, organ, vocals; born Pete Kember on November 19, 1965) and Jason Pierce (guitar, organ, vocals; also born November 19, 1965) formed Spacemen 3 in Rugby,

Warwickshire, England. Sonic Boom and Pierce added a rhythm section comprised of Pete Baines and Rosco, and spent the next four years rehearsing and jamming. In 1986, the group released its debut album, "Sound of Confusion", on Glass Records. At first the band sounded a bit like a punked-up garage rock band, but their music quickly evolved into their signature trance-like neo-psychedelia. Spacemen 3's second album, 1987's "The Perfect Prescription", was the first to capture the group's distinctive style.
                                                                                      

Following 1989's "Playing With Fire", Baines and Rosco left the group to form their own band, the Darkside. They were replaced by Will Carruthers and Jon Mattock. Despite the addition of new blood

to its lineup, the band was beginning to fray because of in-fighting between Sonic Boom and Pierce, as well as the former's increasing drug dependency. The new lineup struggled through a final album, 1991's "Recurring", which featured Boom's songs on side one and Pierce's on side two. By the time of the release of Recurring, Pierce was performing with Carruthers and Mattock in a new band called Spiritualized. Shortly after the release of Recurring, Spacemen 3 split, and Spiritualized became Pierce's full-time band, eventually earning a cult following of its own.]
                                                                                         

Spacemen 3 ‎– Playing With Fire
Label: Space Age Recordings ‎– ORBIT 011CD
Format: 2 × CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered 2003
Country: UK
Released: 1989
Genre: Rock
Style: Space Rock, Psychedelic Rock

DISC 1


01. Honey    Kember    3:00
02. Come Down Softly to My Soul    Pierce    3:46
03. How Does It Feel?    Kember    7:58
04. I Believe It    Kember    3:20
05. Revolution    Kember    5:56
06. Let Me Down Gently    Kember    4:30
07. So Hot (Wash Away All of My Tears)    Pierce    2:38
08. Suicide    Pierce, Kember    11:03
09. Lord Can You Hear Me?    Pierce    4:34
10. Suicide (Live)    Pierce, Kember    12:25
11. Repeater (How Does It Feel?) (Live)    Kember    5:31
12. Ché     Martin Rev, Alan Vega, Kember    4:31
13. May the Circle Be Unbroken    Traditional arr. Pierce    3:46

MP3 @ 320 Size: 169 MB
Flac  Size: 390 MB

DISC 2

 

01. Honey (Demo)    Kember    3:24
02. Let Me Down Gently (Drum Mix)    Kember    4:51
03. How Does It Feel? (Alternative Version)    Kember    8:25
04. Suicide (Alternate Mix)    Pierce, Kember    11:51
05. Lord Can You Hear Me? (Demo Vocal)    Pierce    4:41
06. I Believe It (Alternate Mix)    Kember    3:20
07. Any Way That You Want Me (Demo)    Chip Taylor    3:21
08. Girl on Fire (Demo)    Phil Parfitt    2:06

MP3 @ 320 Size: 98.2 MB
Flac  Size: 244 MB

CREDITS

Artwork [At Tundra] – Andy
Bass [Bass Vibrations] – Willie
Cello – Josephine Wiggs
Engineer – Graham Walker, Pat, Paul Adkins
Mastered By [Cut By] – G. Porky Peckham
Photography By – Phil Nicholls, Steve Double
Producer – Jason, Sonic
Violin – Michael Bentham
Vocals, Guitar [Fender Telecaster, Rickenbacker] – Jason
Vocals, Guitar [Vox Starstreamer, Fender Jaguar], Organ [Vox Super Continental] – Sonic

REVOLUTION LYRICS

 

Well, I'm sick
I'm so sick
Of a lot of people
Trying to tell me
What I can't
Or can't do
With my life

And I'm tired
I'm so tired
Of a lot of people
In a lot of high places
Who don't want
You
And me
To enjoy ourselves

Well I'm through with people
Who can't get up their ass
To help themselves
Change this government
And better society

So hold on a second
I smell burnin'
And I see a change
Comin'
Round
The bend
And I suggest to you
That it takes
Just five seconds
Just five seconds
Of decision
To realize
That the time
Is right
To start thinkin' about
A little
Revolution...

Spacemen 3 on Urban aspirines HERE
Spiritualized on Urban Aspirines HERE