The Ascension (Glenn Branca album)
| The Ascension | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Glenn Branca | ||||
| Released | 1981 | |||
| Genre | No wave, modern classical, totalism | |||
| Length | 42:17 | |||
| Label | 99 | |||
| Producer | Ed Bahlman | |||
| Glenn Branca chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | B |
| The New York Times | positive |
| NME | 9/10 |
| Pitchfork Media | 10/10 |
| Tiny Mix Tapes | positive |
The Ascension is the debut studio album by American no wave musician Glenn Branca, released in 1981 by 99 Records. The album experiments with resonances generated by alternate tunings for multiple electric guitars. It sold 10,000 copies and received acclaim from music critics.
Branca wanted to explore the resonances generated when guitar strings tuned to the same note were played at high volumes. He assembled the Ascension Band with four electric guitarists, one bassist, and one drummer. The group included guitarist Lee Ranaldo, who later joined alternative rock band Sonic Youth. The group's bass player knew the owner and engineers at The Power Station, so they were able to use it at little cost. They recorded five pieces in between tours for Branca's debut EP Lesson No. 1. "The Spectacular Commodity" was written before the songs on Lesson No. 1, originating as a dance piece for Branca's band the Static.
The album's title was chosen as a continuation of works by Olivier Messiaen and John Coltrane. Its iconic black-and-white cover artwork is by painter Robert Longo. It comes from Longo's "Men in the Cities" series, which depicts well-dressed young professionals in contorted poses. The cover shows Branca in a suit, dragging the dead body of another man. Branca has stated that he wanted to show two men having sex; instead, he asked Longo to "make an implication of this."
Opening track "Lesson No. 2" starts with a bass riff. It builds with tom-tom drums and four guitars, amplified with buzzing feedback. It devolves into a drumbeat with dissonant blasts of guitar. "The Spectacular Commodity" takes its name from situationist theory. The song moves through various tempos with three guitars playing in different octaves, bass, and drums. The climax occurs nine minutes into the track, as one guitar plays high open chords and the other two act as accompaniment. "Structure" is built around repeated harmonics.
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Wikipedia