The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-la-la Band* – Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward.

Useless information, but this was the first release that CST released in their now standard 'gatefold' CD sleeve.... its slightly smaller than all the other releases. So now you know.

It's also fantastic and one of my all time favourite CST releases.

Is there any important difference between the 2001 and 2004 vinyl pressings? As far as I can tell they're completely identical.

things started to go a little down hill with this record, or more accurately with the double disc godspeed record. everybody sounds a little tired, overworked and just generally uninspired. there are a few interesting points throughout the record, but i'd advise you to stay away from it. the third mt. zion record is a lot stronger. i haven't yet heard anything after the third record except for some live material that may or may not have shown up on the fourth ep. this material was very strong but i'm not sure how it will transfer to a recording.

nonetheless, there are some strong points for sure. the first track begins with a trickling of guitar effects before it gets drowned by a wall of sad violins, then levels off into a nice little piano sonata with a string accompaniment. in this band, the guitars are often just another string instrument, so i will not generally differentiate them. however, the heavily processed guitars here are certainly prominent. very nice, but very sad. you have to be in the right mood for it, which i generally happen to be in......

the second track is also very nice. it again starts off with some effects work before falling into a sad string piece with heavily processed guitars, vibraphones and some kind of sound sculpturing work floating around in the background. however, it doesn't really go anywhere. it's good background music but doesn't really work for active listening purposes.

track three has a little kid babbling pretentiously before it levels into another uninspired string piece that doesn't go anywhere....

track four is horrible.....it's not exactly like guns 'n' roses but it really has that 'november rain' sound to it. the lyrics are brutal, and the song is just plain out boring. i mean, it has verses and choruses. that's not what you're listening for with these guys, and they're really just not very good at writing pop songs anyways.

track five is another uninspired, boring track that does little and goes nowhere. there are some vocals. nothing worth mentioning.

things pick up with track six. a minimalist meets romanticist piano part drives the track, and there are some strings filling out the sound. i guess the track is characterized by a slow/fast contrast. however, it still sounds a little uninspired in the middle parts...there's just not much happening, although there is more happening than at other parts on the record.

track seven introduces some drums, which are not present at all before this track. however, the track is a very slow one that doesn't really develop into anything of interest. it's built around a chord progression on the guitar that pretty much everyone just doubles, except a lone guitar carrying a melody. they come in one at a time so that you get the predictable rising sound. it sounds more like a godspeed track, except not a very good godspeed track. in fact, i'd say it's probably a godspeed outtake....it turns into something very punk rock before it kind of boils over into typical godspeed between track ambience, then floats into a do make say think track......then we jump back into some punk rock that is carried by a heavy bass line and a guitar melody....but it just comes out of nowhere and doesn't really work...it ends with a sonic youth style guitar effects smorgasbord before it fades out again. that might sound good, but it's not pasted together very well....mostly because you can tell it was pasted together from three or four different songs.

track eight is well done. this is the first (and perhaps only) time that efrim's vocals really work out well. it's kind of emo, i guess. his vocals are silly, but defiant as well. it's not a childish kind of rebellion, it's a rational (although perhaps apathetic, yet still hopeful) form of dissent.....and at the end you're just left with a chuckle over the line "musicians are cowards". overall, it's a nice string heavy pop song. artsy punk rock chicks tend to dig it, and i probably should have been an artsy punk rock chick...

so, if you ignore the middle part and just listen to the first and last tracks, this is a great album. otherwise, it just sounds like they were touring too much and a little off the peak of their powers. most of this stuff should have either been developed further or tossed away. not recommended at all, except as a last godspeed record to complete the collection...for the simple reason that if you own the other ones, you'll probably never listen to this.