Harmony No Harmony
Encyclopedia
Harmony No Harmony is the second full length album released by British
band Million Dead
and also their last. It is the first to feature new guitarist Tom Fowler who replaced original guitarist Cameron Dean. Lead singer Frank Turner's mother makes an appearance on the song "To Whom It May Concern". Members of the now defunct Drive Like You Stole It appear on both "To Whom It May Concern" and "Father My Father".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
band Million Dead
Million Dead
Million Dead were a hardcore punk band from London, UK, active between 2001 and 2005.-History:The band was founded in 2000 by Cameron Dean and Julia Ruzicka, after both came to London from Australia. They were joined by Ben Dawson, who had worked with Dean in a record shop in the city...
and also their last. It is the first to feature new guitarist Tom Fowler who replaced original guitarist Cameron Dean. Lead singer Frank Turner's mother makes an appearance on the song "To Whom It May Concern". Members of the now defunct Drive Like You Stole It appear on both "To Whom It May Concern" and "Father My Father".
Track listing
- All songs written by Million DeadMillion DeadMillion Dead were a hardcore punk band from London, UK, active between 2001 and 2005.-History:The band was founded in 2000 by Cameron Dean and Julia Ruzicka, after both came to London from Australia. They were joined by Ben Dawson, who had worked with Dean in a record shop in the city...
- "Bread and Circuses" – 2:33
- "Holloway Prison Blues" – 4:15
- "After the Rush Hour" – 3:29
- "Plan B" – 1:37
- "Carthago Est Delenda" – 6:00
- "To Whom It May Concern" – 4:17
- "Living the Dream" – 5:10
- "Margot Kidder" – 6:37
- "Murder and Create" – 3:13
- "Achilles Lung" – 4:08
- "Bovine Spungiform Economics" – 1:59
- "Father My Father" – 3:33
- "Engine Driver" – 6:13
- "Harmony No Harmony" – 2:15
Personnel
- Tom Fowler - guitar, 10,000 pedals.
- Julia Ruzicka - bass guitar, vocals
- Ben Dawson - Drums, tam-tam, vocals
- Frank Turner - Vocals, guitar
- Mark Williams - Production, mixing
- Barney Herbert - Production assistant
- Eric Broyhill - Mastering
- Richard Fowler - Drawings
- Layouts and photographs by Million DeadMillion DeadMillion Dead were a hardcore punk band from London, UK, active between 2001 and 2005.-History:The band was founded in 2000 by Cameron Dean and Julia Ruzicka, after both came to London from Australia. They were joined by Ben Dawson, who had worked with Dean in a record shop in the city...
- Additional vocals on "To Whom It May Concern" - Jane Turner, Ashley Bird, Simon Young, Mel Young, Bethia Beadman, Alice Young
- Additional vocals on "Father My Father" - Evan Cotter, Simon Fowler, Ashley Bird, Simon Young, Mel Young, Alice Young, Mike Kruger, Tony Arthy, Lars Minkinnen
Miscellanea
- The title "Bread and CircusesBread and circuses"Bread and Circuses" is a metaphor for a superficial means of appeasement...
" is a reference to a Roman belief that all that was needed to keep the masses distracted from serious matters that affected them was "bread and circuses" (food and entertainment). This is mirrored in the song's lyrics. - "Holloway Prison Blues" is a play on the title of the Johnny CashJohnny CashJohn R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
song "Folsom Prison Blues", as singer Frank Turner lived in HollowayHolloway, LondonHolloway is an inner-city district in the London Borough of Islington located north of Charing Cross and follows for the most part, the line of the Holloway Road . At the centre of Holloway is the Nag's Head area...
at the time of writing. The lyrics also mention Francis FukuyamaFrancis FukuyamaYoshihiro Francis Fukuyama is an American political scientist, political economist, and author. He is a Senior Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford. Before that he served as a professor and director of the International Development program at the School of...
, the AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
philosopher, political economistPolitical economyPolitical economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
and authorAuthorAn author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. - "After The Rush Hour" is a nod to the Neil YoungNeil YoungNeil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
song "After The Gold Rush". It also gives lyrical nods to AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n politicianPoliticianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
Klemens Wenzel von MetternichKlemens Wenzel von MetternichPrince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich was a German-born Austrian politician and statesman and was one of the most important diplomats of his era...
, BritishBritish peopleThe British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
philosopher Jeremy BenthamJeremy BenthamJeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
's idea of a panopticonPanopticonThe Panopticon is a type of building designed by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century. The concept of the design is to allow an observer to observe all inmates of an institution without them being able to tell whether or not they are being watched...
and ItalianItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
politician Giuseppe MazziniGiuseppe MazziniGiuseppe Mazzini , nicknamed Soul of Italy, was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century...
and the Jimmy WebbJimmy WebbJimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
(most notably covered by Glen CampbellGlen CampbellGlen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
) song Wichita LinemanWichita Lineman"Wichita Lineman" is a popular song written by Jimmy Webb in 1968, first recorded by Glen Campbell and widely covered by other artists. Campbell's version, which appeared on his 1968 album of the same name, reached #3 on the U.S. pop chart, remaining in the Top 100 for 15 weeks...
. - "Carthago Est Delenda" is a reference to the Third Punic WarThird Punic WarThe Third Punic War was the third and last of the Punic Wars fought between the former Phoenician colony of Carthage, and the Roman Republic...
. The phrase is LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, and was spoken at the end of every speech Roman senator Cato the ElderCato the ElderMarcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some...
made during the Punic wars. The phrase loosely translates as "Carthage must be destroyed". The song also gives short mentions to the disaster of Mount Vesuvius and the constant threat of disaster from the San Andreas FaultSan Andreas FaultThe San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...
. - Margot KidderMargot KidderMargaret Ruth "Margot" Kidder is a Canadian-born American actress. She is perhaps best known for playing Lois Lane in the four Superman movies opposite Christopher Reeve, a role that brought her to widespread recognition....
is an actress famed for her parts in the Superman movies, and also for a highly-publicised mental breakdown in 1996 (suiting the somewhat weary nature of the song's lyrics). - "Murder and Create" is a reference to a line in T. S. EliotT. S. EliotThomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
's 1917 poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred PrufrockThe Love Song of J. Alfred PrufrockThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, commonly known as Prufrock, is a poem by T. S. Eliot, begun in February 1910 and published in Chicago in June 1915. Described as a "drama of literary anguish," it presents a stream of consciousness in the form of a dramatic monologue, and marked the beginning of...
. This is one in a long line of T. S. EliotT. S. EliotThomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
references which can be found in the band's (and later Frank Turner's) material. Another example is the first lyric of "Carthago Est Delenda" - "To Carthage then I came", which is a line from The Waste LandThe Waste LandThe Waste Land[A] is a 434-line[B] modernist poem by T. S. Eliot published in 1922. It has been called "one of the most important poems of the 20th century." Despite the poem's obscurity—its shifts between satire and prophecy, its abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time, its...
. - 'Father My Father' gives a lyrical mention to the students of the SorbonneSorbonneThe Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
(a name used to refer to the University of ParisUniversity of ParisThe University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
or one of its offshoots). - The album title Harmony No Harmony is taken from the liner notes to Black FlagBlack Flag (band)Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
's album Everything Went BlackEverything Went BlackEverything Went Black is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag, released in 1982. It comprises early songs recorded before Henry Rollins became the band's vocalist in 1981, and released initially without the band's name on its cover, due to their lawsuit with MCA/Unicorn...
.