Rise Above is the 1992 solo full-length debut album by singer-songwriter Epic Soundtracks

Epic Soundtracks

Epic Soundtracks was the stage name of the British musician Kevin Paul Godfrey . Born in Croydon, Surrey, he was brought up in Solihull, Midlands with his brother Adrian Nicholas, who was known as Nikki Sudden .In 1972 Kevin and Nicholas formed the nucleus of what was to become the post-punk rock...

 (stage name of Kevin Paul Godfrey), who had previously been known as the drummer/pianist with the bands Swell Maps

Swell Maps

Swell Maps were an experimental English rock group of the 1970s from Birmingham that foreshadowed the birth of post-punk.Influenced by the disparate likes of T.Rex and the German progressive outfit, Can, they created a new soundscape that would be heavily mined by others in the post-punk era...

, Jacobites

Jacobites (band)

Jacobites were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1982 by Nikki Sudden and Dave Kusworth, following the breakup of their respective previous bands, the Swell Maps and the Subterranean Hawks.-Career:...

, Crime and the City Solution

Crime and the City Solution

Crime and the City Solution was a rock music band formed by Australian singer and songwriter Simon Bonney.They had four distinct line-ups: Sydney in 1977–78, Melbourne in 1979, and two groupings in Berlin from 1985–1990. The only common member in all four line-ups was Bonney.Other members included:...

 and These Immortal Souls

These Immortal Souls

These Immortal Souls was an Australian post-punk band based in Europe and active through the late 1980s and early 1990s.The band consisted of Rowland S. Howard , Genevieve McGuckin , Epic Soundtracks and Harry Howard...

.

Other musicians appearing on the album include Lee Ranaldo

Lee Ranaldo

Lee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth...

 and Kim Gordon

Kim Gordon

Kim Althea Gordon is an American musician, vocalist, artist, record producer, video director and actress. She has sung and played bass and guitar in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, and in Free Kitten with Julia Cafritz...

 (Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...

), J Mascis

J Mascis

J Mascis is an American musician, best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter for Dinosaur Jr.. In 2011, he was ranked in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.- Biography :...

 (Dinosaur Jr.), Martyn Casey (The Bad Seeds

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne in 1983. The band is fronted by Nick Cave and has featured international personnel throughout their career.-Formation and early releases :...

), Anthony Thistlethwaite

Anthony Thistlethwaite

Anthony "Anto" Thistlethwaite is a British multi-instrumentalist best known as a founder member of the folk-rock group The Waterboys and later as a long-standing member of Irish rock band The Saw Doctors.After a year busking in Paris, playing tenor saxophone around the streets of the Latin...

 (The Waterboys

The Waterboys

The Waterboys are a band formed in 1983 by Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland and England. Edinburgh, London, Dublin, Spiddal, New York, and Findhorn have all served as homes for the group. The band has played in a...

), Will Pepper (Thee Hypnotics

Thee Hypnotics

Thee Hypnotics were a 1990s British garage/psychedelic/hard rock band. They were part of the early alternative rock scene, releasing two full-length albums and an EP from 1989-1990 before taking an enforced hiatus due to their drummer breaking his back in a car accident while they were on tour in...

) and Rowland S. Howard

Rowland S. Howard

Rowland Stuart Howard was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, he played electric guitar in the post-punk group The Birthday Party. Howard died of liver cancer in December 2009, aged 50 years....

 (The Birthday Party

The Birthday Party (band)

The Birthday Party were an Australian rock band, active from 1973 to 1983.Despite being championed by John Peel, The Birthday Party found little commercial success during their career...

).

This album followed a whole decade of insecurity regarding his own singing (his earlier release Popular Classical featured Robert Wyatt

Robert Wyatt

Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...

 on vocals) and passionate record collecting. The latter is evident in typeface and colours on the cover of the album, as well as the lyrics to "Sad Song", alluding to The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

' album Pet Sounds

Pet Sounds

Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band The Beach Boys, released May 16, 1966, on Capitol Records. It has since been recognized as one of the most influential records in the history of popular music and one of the best albums of the 1960s, including songs such as "Wouldn't...

and its song "Caroline, No

Caroline, No

"Caroline, No" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher, recorded during the Pet Sounds sessions. It was released as a solo Brian Wilson single in March 1966 in advance of the album's release. The single was only a modest success, reaching number thirty-two in the US national chart and No....

", respectively.

Track listing

1. "Fallen Down"
2. "Farmer's Daughter"
3. "Ruthless"
4. "Everybody Else is Wrong"
5. "I Feel Good"
6. "Big Apple Graveyard"
7. "I Don't Know"
8. "Meet Me on the Beach"
9. "Sad Song"
10. "She Sleeps Alone / Love Fucks You Up"
11. "Wild Situation"
12. "She Sleeps Alone"

Personnel

• Epic Soundtracks - vocals, piano, bass, drums, organ, guitar
• Martyn P. Casey
  Martyn P. Casey
  Martyn Paul Casey is an English-born Australian rock bass guitarist. He had been a member of The Triffids, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman. Casey plays either his Fender Precision Bass or Fender Jazz Bass.-Biography:...
  
   - bass
• Lee Ranaldo
  Lee Ranaldo
  Lee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth...
  
   - guitar on "Fallen Down"
• J Mascis
  J Mascis
  J Mascis is an American musician, best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter for Dinosaur Jr.. In 2011, he was ranked in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.- Biography :...
  
   - drums on "Farmer's Daughter", "Big Apple Graveyard", "She Sleeps Alone"
• Anthony Thistlethwaite
  Anthony Thistlethwaite
  Anthony "Anto" Thistlethwaite is a British multi-instrumentalist best known as a founder member of the folk-rock group The Waterboys and later as a long-standing member of Irish rock band The Saw Doctors.After a year busking in Paris, playing tenor saxophone around the streets of the Latin...
  
   - saxophone on "Farmer's Daughter", "Everybody Else is Wrong", "I Don't Know"
• Kim Gordon
  Kim Gordon
  Kim Althea Gordon is an American musician, vocalist, artist, record producer, video director and actress. She has sung and played bass and guitar in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, and in Free Kitten with Julia Cafritz...
  
   - vocals on "Big Apple Graveyard"
• Will Pepper - bass on "Meet Me on the Beach"
• Rowland S. Howard
  Rowland S. Howard
  Rowland Stuart Howard was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, he played electric guitar in the post-punk group The Birthday Party. Howard died of liver cancer in December 2009, aged 50 years....
  
  - guitar on "Meet Me on the Beach", "Wild Situation"; slide guitar on "Sad Song"
• Judy Anderson - cello on "Big Apple Graveyard", "Sad Song", "She Sleeps Alone"
• Chris Lee - trumpet on "Big Apple Graveyard", "She Sleeps Alone"
• Liz Corcoran - violin on "Big Apple Graveyard", "Sad Song", "She Sleeps Alone"
• Natasha McCluney - vocals on "She Sleeps Alone"