The Tear Garden – The Last Man To Fly

This may well be my favorite album of all time. Maybe not currently but in the time this meant so much to me. Being a HUGE skinny puppy fan as well as LPD. What a clash of the titans and you can really hear the impact of Dwayne Goettel on this. He was such an underrated impact on the Sound of SP at their peak power. Was never the same after he was gone. I know every song front to back and must have listened to this 100s of times. If you love SP and LPD you must invest yourself fully into this one.

whoa, the artwork looks neon. Was this version remastered? Ramastered?

It put me in rapture to see Vinyl and CD for sale here--but there is no vinyl. We need a vinyl! This album is supreemo. And so are the others! I am sure there have been heated discussions behind closed doors about vinyl versions. I side with the other guy--put Tear Garden on vinyl!

I can't understand why this hasn't been released on vinyl(hint hint).
Honestly, my favorite out of either discography. I stopped investing in '96 because of divergent development (I have many thousands invested in CDs and LPs, then I moved on). But honestly, if you've enjoyed either skinny puppy or the legendary pink dots, this is gold.

The Tear Garden's second albums marks a futher development of a music project originaly started by cEvink Key (from Skinny Puppy) and Edward Ka-Spel (from The Legendary Pink Dots). The first album "Tired Eyes Slowly Burning" conistet of this two main members and sounded very much like a Goth Rock/Ethereal Electro version of the first Skinny Puppy and Legendary Pink Dots albums. On this second output the Tear Garden became a "big band" like mentioned by Edward Ka-Spel. With the addition of LPD masterminds Phil Knight, Martijn de Kleer and Ryan Moore it's not a big surprise that the sound of The Tear Garden became more psychedelic and rocky, just like the LPD albums from this time. And we should not forget the addition of Dwayne Goettel from Skinny Puppy, who in cooperation with Phil Knight make a very good electronic mastermind duo. Not a member at this time was Niels Van Hoorn, which is imho a small loss, because his qualities as a saxophone and flute player would fit very well in this allready outstanding album.
Like I mentioned before this album markes a strong departure from the electro sounds of it's predecessor adding a strong psychedelic feel by adding mostly organic instruments. Especially Martijn De Kleer guitarwork makes " The Last Man To Fly" a beautiful homage to Pink Floyd without being a poor copy of their sound. Dwayne Goettels synth and piano works are as always top notch, especially on "A Ship Named 'Despair'". But again the project draws it's strengh from Edward Ka-Spels lyrics and the fantastic, precise collaborations of the former bandmembers, leading to close friendships them. The tracks fell more like jam sessions and some of them even are ("Empathy With The Devil", "The Running Man"). Some jam portions even have small appearances on Skinny Puppy's album "Last Rights" from the same year. Indeed even the topics have a similar apocalyptic/melancholic vein.
Like I mentioned in a review for "Last Rights" the time around 1992 was a very dramatic and drug influenced time in the lifes of Key and Goettel and even "The Green Guy" (SP's supposed hash dealer) is mentioned as a member for this album. So it's not a surprise that this album sounds like a cosmic trip, but in a damn good way, matching the beautiful cover artwork perfectly.

It baffles me how this album was never released on vinyl. This would be such a great addition to my collection. From start to finish this album is beyond anything i've ever heard before. Edward Ka-spel, cEvin Key and Dwayne R. Goettel are gods!!!