The Word and the Flesh
| The Word and the Flesh | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Band of Susans | ||||
| Released | September 1991 | |||
| Recorded | May–June 1990 | |||
| Studio | Platinum Island, New York City | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 57:21 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Robert Poss | |||
| Band of Susans chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| The Boston Phoenix | (favourable) |
| Melody Maker | (favourable) |
| NME | (favourable) |
| Spin | (mixed) |
The Word and the Flesh is the third studio album and fourth album overall by American noise rock band Band of Susans. For the first time in the band's history, they were able to find a settled lineup to back up the band's core-line up of band leader Robert Poss, Susan Stenger and drummer Ron Spitzer, after Karen Higlof and Page Hamilton departed the band following the release of Love Agenda (1989). With Anne Husick and Mark Lonergan replacing them, the band entered their "classic line-up" and recording The Word and the Flesh in New York City in spring 1990, with Poss acting as producer.
The album was the band's "tribute to the E chord", and is often considered to the band's most accessible album, with a less reverbed guitar sound and more song-orientated approach than before. The final track, "Guitar Trio" is a work from when Poss and Stenger worked with experimental composer Rhys Chatham in the 1980s. The Word and the Flesh was belatedly released in September 1991 by Restless Records. It originally received mostly positive reviews from music critics from a variety of magazines. Over time, its legacy has been increasingly positive, with one review calling it "perhaps the finest hour by the Susans," and in 2014, music journalist Andrew Earles included the album in his book Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981–1996.
When Band of Susans formed in New York City in 1986, they consisted of Robert Poss (guitar and vocals), Susan Stenger (bass and vocals), Ron Spitzer (drums), with Susan Lyall (guitar), Susan Tallman (guitar), and Alva Rogers (vocals), and took their name from the trio of Susans then in the lineup. Poss, Stenger, and Spitzer grew up together in Buffalo, New York. After releasing their début album Hope Against Hope (1988), Rogers, Lyall and Tallman quit, and were replaced by Karen Haglof (guitar) and Page Hamilton (guitar). The new line-up recorded the band's second album, Love Agenda (1989), and a Peel Sessions EP that was not released until 1992, but the two new guitarists ultimately quit, with Haglof attending medical school and Hamilton quickly forming the more metal-influenced Helmet.
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