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Psalm 9

 
Album Review: Psalm 9

  • Artist: Trouble
  • Rating: StarStarStarStar
  • Release Date: 1984
  • Total Time: 43:07
  • Genre: Rock

Review

A huge throwback to the '70s in every sense (looks, sound, etc.), Chicago's Trouble had little hope of fitting into the various mid-'80s heavy metal scenes. Instead the band were busy updating the genre's prehistoric doom teachings for the new decade, beginning with their eponymous debut, later re-baptized Psalm 9. First track, "The Tempter," immediately set the revisionist tone: opening with a plodding, monolithic riff which only grudgingly allowed the song to break into its chugging gallop, while clearly setting Trouble apart from their heroes in Black Sabbath with its pro-God lyrics. Except for this basic but crucial difference of perspective, issues of Heaven and Hell still pervaded much of the album, and ranged from obvious near-sermonizing like "Revelation (Life or Death)" and "Fall of Lucifer," to rather more discreet material such as "Assassin" and "Bastards Will Pay." And even though there were consistently strong combination of elegant melodies and thunderous riffs throughout, some of Psalm 9's biggest surprises were saved for last, as the instrumental "Endtime" prefaced a straight-up reading of the Bible passage that lends the album its name, and, finally, a faithful cover of Cream's "Tales of Brave Ulysses." Don't let all of these understandable English influences confuse you though, for Psalm 9 was undoubtedly one of the opening salvos of a truly American-bred doom style. [The CD was also released with a bonus DVD featuring live footage and band interviews.] ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
The Tempter Trouble Trouble (6:35)
Assassin (Lyrics) Trouble Trouble (3:12)
Victim of the Insane Trouble Trouble (5:08)
Revelation (Life or Death) Trouble Trouble (5:05)
Bastards Will Pay (Lyrics) Trouble Trouble (3:42)
The Fall of Lucifer Trouble Trouble (5:43)
Endtime Trouble Trouble (4:55)
Psalm Nine Trouble Trouble (4:49)
Tales of Brave Ulysses Eric Clapton, Martin Sharp Trouble (3:58)

Credits

Rick Wartell (Guitar), Sean McAllister (Bass), Eric Wagner (Vocals), Bill Metoyer (Producer), Bruce Franklin (Guitar), Bill Metoyer (Engineer), Trouble (Producer), Brian Slagle (Producer), Jeff Olson (Drums)
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Wikipedia: Psalm 9 (album)
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Psalm 9
Studio album by Trouble
Released 1984
Recorded February 1984 at Track Record, Los Angeles, California
Genre Doom metal
Heavy metal
Length 43:18
Label Metal Blade
Producer Trouble, Bill Metoyer and Brian Slagel
Professional reviews
Trouble chronology
'Psalm 9
(1984)
The Skull
(1985)

Psalm 9 is the debut album by the American doom metal band Trouble, released in 1984. The album was originally released eponymously and was renamed to Psalm 9 after the release of their fourth album, which was their 1990 self-titled release.

Along with Saint Vitus' self-titled debut, Psalm 9 is considered by many to be one of the first doom metal albums to be released. Although the album was not commercially successful, it is now considered a classic doom metal album by fans and critics alike. The cover of Cream's "Tales of Brave Ulysses" was a b-side to the only single taken from the album.

The album has been released for CD on three occasions: in 1991 by Metal Blade, a year after the release of then-current album Trouble; remastered using the original master tapes and reissued again by Metal Blade in 1994, commemorating the tenth anniversary of its release; and again remastered and reissued by Escapi Music in October 2006, with a bonus DVD.

Track listing

All songs by Trouble, except "Tales of Brave Ulysses," originally by Cream.

  1. "The Tempter" – 6:37
  2. "Assassin" – 3:13
  3. "Victim of the Insane" – 5:10
  4. "Revelation (Life or Death)" – 5:06
  5. "Bastards Will Pay" – 3:43
  6. "The Fall of Lucifer" – 5:44
  7. "Endtime" (instrumental) – 4:59
  8. "Psalm 9" – 4:49
  9. "Tales of Brave Ulysses" (Clapton, Sharp) – 3:57

Personnel


 
 

 

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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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