The Garden (John Foxx album)
Encyclopedia
The Garden is a 1981 album by John Foxx
, the follow-up to his debut solo album Metamatic
, released the previous year. However its instrumentation and highly romantic
style is more comparable to Systems of Romance
, his last album with former band Ultravox
, released in 1978.
and Gregorian chant
; his exploration of England's countryside, architecture
and history
following the release of Metamatic; and the song "Systems of Romance", which had been written during sessions for the Ultravox album of the same name but was not included on the record, even though its title was used.
Another connection between The Garden and Systems of Romance the album was the presence of guitar
ist Robin Simon
, whose textured style had been a significant influence on the sound of the earlier release. Whereas on Metamatic the only conventional instrument had been bass guitar
, Foxx used a full band of musicians on The Garden to play electric and acoustic guitar
, electric bass, piano
, and acoustic percussion
, in addition to synthesizer
s and drum machine
s.
Regarding the album's title and the influence of his travels through England, in a 1981 interview with Bruce Elder
on Australian radio Triple J
Foxx said, "'The Garden' seemed to be a pretty good metaphor because I found a lot of gardens that were overgrown and ruined and a lot of very grand buildings that were almost decaying - but I found them a lot more beautiful than they were in their original state, being overgrown".
The opening track, "Europe After the Rain", encapsulated the style of the album as a whole, featuring discreet synthesizer work in concert with piano, acoustic guitar and a digital drum machine; its title came from a Max Ernst
painting. The tune of "Night Suit" betrayed a funk
influence, whilst its lyrics were among many on the album that alluded to 'The Quiet Man', an alternate persona Foxx had developed prior to Ultravox's Systems of Romance and which inspired one of its key songs, "Quiet Men". Foxx saw The Quiet Man as the epitome of detachment and observation, and claimed to often write from his perspective.
Two songs that reflected the influence of church music and prayer were
"Pater Noster" and the final/title track. The former was played entirely by Foxx, the Lord's Prayer
sung in Latin
against an electronic disco
beat and the composer’s 'Human Host', a collection of tapes, vocoder
s and synthesizer sounds. The latter was a manifestation of the inspiration Foxx took from rural England and cathedral architecture; musically it also bore some resemblance to the final track on Systems of Romance, "Just for a Moment".
output, Cathedral Oceans (1995) and its sequels.
John Foxx
John Foxx is an English singer, artist, photographer and teacher. He was the original lead singer of the band Ultravox before being replaced by Midge Ure, when he left to embark on a solo career in 1979...
, the follow-up to his debut solo album Metamatic
Metamatic
Metamatic is an album by John Foxx, released in 1980. It was his first solo album following his split with Ultravox the previous year. A departure from the textured mix of synthesizers and conventional instruments on Systems of Romance, his last album with the band, Metamatics hard-edged...
, released the previous year. However its instrumentation and highly romantic
Neo-romanticism
The term neo-romanticism is used to cover a variety of movements in music, painting and architecture. It has been used with reference to very late 19th century and early 20th century composers such as Gustav Mahler particularly by Carl Dahlhaus who uses it as synonymous with late Romanticism...
style is more comparable to Systems of Romance
Systems of Romance
Systems of Romance, released on 8 September 1978, is the third album by British band Ultravox...
, his last album with former band Ultravox
Ultravox
Ultravox is a British New Wave rock band. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the late 1970s/early 1980s. The band was particularly associated with the New Romantic and New Wave movements....
, released in 1978.
Production and style
The sound and subject matter of The Garden were informed by a number of factors: the composer's Catholic upbringing and early exposure to Latin massMass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
and Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
; his exploration of England's countryside, architecture
Architecture of the United Kingdom
The Architecture of England refers to the architecture practised in the territory of the present-day country of England, and in the historic Kingdom of England...
and history
History of England
The history of England concerns the study of the human past in one of Europe's oldest and most influential national territories. What is now England, a country within the United Kingdom, was inhabited by Neanderthals 230,000 years ago. Continuous human habitation dates to around 12,000 years ago,...
following the release of Metamatic; and the song "Systems of Romance", which had been written during sessions for the Ultravox album of the same name but was not included on the record, even though its title was used.
Another connection between The Garden and Systems of Romance the album was the presence of guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Robin Simon
Robin Simon
For the art historian and critic Robin Simon, editor of , see Robin JH SimonRobin Simon For the art historian and critic Robin Simon, editor of , see Robin JH SimonRobin Simon For the art historian and critic Robin Simon, editor of , see Robin JH SimonRobin Simon (born Robert Simon 12 July 1956,...
, whose textured style had been a significant influence on the sound of the earlier release. Whereas on Metamatic the only conventional instrument had been bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Foxx used a full band of musicians on The Garden to play electric and acoustic guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, electric bass, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, and acoustic percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, in addition to synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s and drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
s.
Regarding the album's title and the influence of his travels through England, in a 1981 interview with Bruce Elder
Bruce Elder
Bruce Elder is a journalist, writer and commentator. He is currently a full-time journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald specialising in travel and popular culture. His other areas of expertise include film, television, and popular music. He has written extensively around Australia and has a...
on Australian radio Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
Foxx said, "'The Garden' seemed to be a pretty good metaphor because I found a lot of gardens that were overgrown and ruined and a lot of very grand buildings that were almost decaying - but I found them a lot more beautiful than they were in their original state, being overgrown".
The opening track, "Europe After the Rain", encapsulated the style of the album as a whole, featuring discreet synthesizer work in concert with piano, acoustic guitar and a digital drum machine; its title came from a Max Ernst
Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
painting. The tune of "Night Suit" betrayed a funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
influence, whilst its lyrics were among many on the album that alluded to 'The Quiet Man', an alternate persona Foxx had developed prior to Ultravox's Systems of Romance and which inspired one of its key songs, "Quiet Men". Foxx saw The Quiet Man as the epitome of detachment and observation, and claimed to often write from his perspective.
Two songs that reflected the influence of church music and prayer were
"Pater Noster" and the final/title track. The former was played entirely by Foxx, the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
sung in Latin
Latin
Latin 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...
against an electronic disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
beat and the composer’s 'Human Host', a collection of tapes, vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
s and synthesizer sounds. The latter was a manifestation of the inspiration Foxx took from rural England and cathedral architecture; musically it also bore some resemblance to the final track on Systems of Romance, "Just for a Moment".
Release and aftermath
The Garden spent six weeks in the UK charts in 1981, peaking at #24. Initial vinyl copies included a glossy booklet called "Church", with words and photographs by Foxx. "Europe After the Rain" b/w "This Jungle" (plus "You Were There" on 12-inch) was released as the first single, a month prior to the album, making #40. "Dancing Like a Gun" b/w "Swimmer 2" (plus "Swimmer 1" on 12-inch) followed in October 1981 but did not chart. The non-album B-sides appear on the 2001 reissue of The Garden. The album, particularly its title track, is generally cited as having influenced Foxx's current ambientAmbient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
output, Cathedral Oceans (1995) and its sequels.
Track listing
All songs written by John Foxx.- "Europe After the Rain" – 3:57
- "Systems of Romance" – 4:02
- "When I Was a Man and You Were a Woman" – 3:37
- "Dancing Like a Gun" – 4:10
- "Pater Noster" – 2:32
- "Night Suit" – 4:26
- "You Were There" – 3:51
- "Fusion/Fission" – 3:48
- "Walk Away" – 3:52
- "The Garden" – 7:03
1993 reissue bonus tracks
- "Young Man" – 2:53
- "Dance With Me" – 3:29
- "A Woman on a Stairway" – 4:29
- "The Lifting Sky" – 4:48
- "Annexe" – 3:10
- "Wings and a Wind" – 5:15
- Most of these bonus tracks date from The Golden SectionThe Golden SectionThe Golden Section is a 1983 album by English musician John Foxx. A progression from the sound of The Garden , Foxx called The Golden Section "a roots check: Beatles, Church music, Psychedelia, The Shadows, The Floyd, The Velvets, Roy Orbison, Kraftwerk, and cheap pre-electro Europop".The album was...
sessions, an album which was not reissued in 1993, explaining the juggling of bonus tracks for the 2001 reissue series.
2001 reissue bonus tracks
- "A Long Time" – 3:49
- "This Jungle" – 4:41
- "Swimmer 2" – 2:06
- "Swimmer 1" – 4:07
- "Young Man" – 2:53
2008 reissue bonus disc
- "Swimmer I" (listed as "Swimmer II" in the cover)
- "This Jungle"
- "Miles Away"
- "A Long Time"
- "Swimmer II" (listed as "Swimmer I" in the cover)
- "Fog"
- "Swimmer III"
- "Swimmer IV"
- "Dance With Me" (early version)
- "A Woman on a Stairway" (early version)
- "Fusion/Fission" (early version)
- "Miles Away" (alternative version)
Personnel
- Duncan Bridgeman – synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, bongosBongo drumBongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
, cymbalCymbalCymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, tom-tomTom-tom drumA tom-tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snare.Although "tom-tom" is the British term for a child's toy drum, the name came originally from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala; the tom-tom itself comes from Asian or Native American cultures...
s, sequencerMusic sequencerThe music sequencer is a device or computer software to record, edit, play back the music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically :...
, brassBrass instrumentA brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, the Human Host - Jake Durant – bass
- Jo Dworniak – bass
- John FoxxJohn FoxxJohn Foxx is an English singer, artist, photographer and teacher. He was the original lead singer of the band Ultravox before being replaced by Midge Ure, when he left to embark on a solo career in 1979...
– synthesizer, piano, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals, drum programmingDrum machineA drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
, tom-toms, the Human Host - Gareth JonesGareth Jones (music producer)Gareth Jones is an English music producer and engineer notable for working with Depeche Mode, Einstürzende Neubauten, Wire and Erasure.-Background:Gareth Jones is married and currently living in North London....
– percussion - Philip Roberts – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Robin SimonRobin SimonFor the art historian and critic Robin Simon, editor of , see Robin JH SimonRobin Simon For the art historian and critic Robin Simon, editor of , see Robin JH SimonRobin Simon For the art historian and critic Robin Simon, editor of , see Robin JH SimonRobin Simon (born Robert Simon 12 July 1956,...
– guitar