WORDS FROM THE FRONT
by TOM VERLAINE

A Verlaine classic

By Rick Hines, Feb. 17, 2005

For some reason, this album remains somewhat overlooked in Verlaine's catalog. I find that the album is simply brimming with highly original ideas in both the songwriting and playing departments. Recorded before Verlaine became disillusioned with the music business, we find a songwriter stretching his talents to find new ways to express himself. This is unquestionably my favorite Verlaine solo work.

The opening song, Present Arrived, begins with the typical jerky rhythms we associate with Verlaine. Lead and rhythm guitars twist and turn in an outpouring of ideas that is simply astounding. Postcard From Waterloo eases us into a beautiful ballad that finds Verlaine at his most sensitive and tuneful. But it's when we come to True Story that the music begins to really stretch out. True Story is written around a mesmerizing see-saw rhythm guitar part, with Tom's vocals weaving in and out, accompanied by all sorts of little chiming noises reverberating in the spaces.

Clear It Away is perhaps the most dispensable work on the album, although it is certainly not a weak song per se. The title track is a moving song written from the viewpoint of a soldier on the battlefield. You can almost hear the fear as Tom's voice delivers the lyrics in a quavering tone, and some incredible lead guitar only heightens the tensions. A masterpiece.

After the paranoia of Words From the Front, Coming Apart brings us back to more traditionally rocking territory (in the Television sense of "rocking"). This brief respite sets us up for the highlight of the collection, Days On the Mountain. Set over a strange, errie beat, with syncopated guitars rhyming in the background, Verlaine mumbles/sings a surreal tale before the music suddenly changes completely midway through this nine-minute epic, then changes again for a lovely shimmering guitar coda at the end.

Throughout, Verlaine's guitar work shines with an originality any fan of his will recognize immediately. He appears much more comfortable than usual singing, and I find his vocals to be some of his best on any of his recordings. When I listen to this album, I am constantly amazed at how a single person can put so much creativity into one work.

The only albums of Verlaine's to come close to this are Marquee Moon (a recognized classic) and Dreamtime (his solo album before this one). It wasn't long after this that Verlaine began to put out some spottier albums like Cover and The Wonder as the record industry began to wear him down with its lack of artistic freedoms. This is Verlaine at the height of his powers. And if you like this, his import anthology The Miller's Tale includes a full disc of songs performed from his "tour" for this album, including many from WFTF. The live ambience and Verlaine's interaction with rhythm guitarist Jimmy Ripp make those songs if possible even better.