• Artist: Jim Carroll
• Flags: Contains explicit content
• Rating:
• Styles: Punk, New Wave

Review

Not a rock & roll album like his three early-'80s releases with the Jim Carroll Band, 1991's Praying Mantis is a spoken word disc recorded live at St. Marks Church in the Bowery. Taking poems and monologues from his collections Living at the Movies (1973), The Book of Nods (1986), and Forced Entries (1987), as well as some new material and a 14-minute improvised monologue/prose poem/rant called "The Loss of American Innocence," Praying Mantis is like a greatest poetry hits collection. Those who aren't fans of Carroll's Rimbaud/Verlaine-derived poetry will not have their minds changed (indeed, his harsh Noo Yawk accent sometimes obscures the language's power), but it's pretty essential for fans. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	iTunes	Composers	Performers	Time
Little NY Ode	...	Jim Carroll	Jim Carroll	(:21)
A Day at the Races	...	Jim Carroll	Jim Carroll	(4:20)
Time Square's Cage	...	Jim Carroll	Jim Carroll	(2:03)
A Child Growing Up With the Sun	...	Jim Carroll	Jim Carroll	(1:51)
Tiny Tortures	...	Jim Carroll	Jim Carroll	(11:22)
To the National Endowment of the Arts	...	Jim Carroll	Jim Carroll	(1:47)
Terrorist Trousers	...	Jim Carroll	Jim Carroll	(2:34)
The Loss of American Innocence	...	Jim Carroll	Jim Carroll	(13:40)
For Elizabeth	...	Jim Carroll	Jim Carroll	(2:32)
Sampling Nietzsche	...	Jim Carroll	Jim Carroll	(:30)
Just Visiting	...	Jim Carroll	Jim Carroll	(5:48)
Praying Mantis	...	Jim Carroll	Jim Carroll	(1:21)

Credits

Jim Carroll (Vocals), Jim Carroll (Main Performer), Jim Carroll (Recitation), Mark Linnett (Producer)