''Mexican Moon'' is the fifth studio album by alternative rock band

Concrete Blonde Concrete Blonde was an American rock band from Hollywood, California. They were active from 1982 to 1994 and reunited twice: first from 2001 to 2004, then from 2010 to 2012. They were best known for their album ''Bloodletting'' (1990), its top- ...

. ''Mexican Moon'' takes the gothic rock of the previous albums and adds more of a hard rock edge to it. Johnette Napolitano provided the vocals, bass guitar, samples, and the album artwork. Paul Thompson played drums and James Mankey played guitar. "Jenny I Read" details the rise to stardom and subsequent fall into happy obscurity of a fashion model (rumoured to be Bettie Page), while "Mexican Moon" finds Napolitano singing about a failed romance and fleeing into Mexico. The song "

Jonestown The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, an American religious movement under the leadership of Jim Jones. Jonestown became in ...

" is a critique of the theology surrounding the

Massacre and opens with a minute-long sample of

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American cult leader, preacher and mass murderer who founded and led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrat ...

ranting about warfare. "End of the Line" is a

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...

song, written by

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established ...

and released on ''

Siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology that lured sailors to their deaths. Places * Sir ...

''. On the closing track, "Bajo la Lune Mexicana," Napolitano (who does not speak Spanish) wrote the Spanish lyrics, which are a literal translation of the lyrics to the album's title track. However, none of the verbs are conjugated, noun gender is ignored, and correct grammar is non-existent; it doesn't detract from the overall translation from Spanish to English.

Critical reception

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' wrote that "even in its quieter moments, ''Mexican Moon'' seethes with emotion." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' wrote: "Napolitano — who is still a mighty bad singer and doesn’t seem to know it — gives her headstrong, knicker-twisting all to the effort, and very nearly gets by on sheer gumption."

Track listing

All songs written by

Johnette Napolitano Johnette Napolitano (born Jonette L. Napolitano; September 22, 1957) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and bassist for the alternative rock group Concrete Blonde. Early life Johnette Napolitano was born and r ...

, except where noted.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''Mexican Moon'' CD album booklet. Concrete Blonde *

– vocals (all tracks), guitars (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7–8, 12), bass (tracks 1, 3–4, 7–8), keyboards (track 12), percussion (tracks 6–7, 9, 11), electric guitar (tracks 2, 13), piano (track 9) *

James Mankey James Andrew Mankey (born May 23, 1952 in Washington) is an American rock guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, ...

– guitars (tracks 1, 4–12), bass (tracks 2, 5–6, 9–11, 13), guitar synthesizer (tracks 6–7, 11), vocals (track 9), Spanish guitar (tracks 2, 13), acoustic guitar (tracks 2, 13), additional voices (track 4) *

Paul Thompson Paul Thompson may refer to: Education *Paul Thompson (professor) (born 1951), British management professor at the University of Strathclyde *Paul B. Thompson (philosopher) (born 1951), American philosopher at Michigan State University *Paul H. Tho ...

– drums (tracks 3–9, 11–12), timpani (tracks 3, 5), percussion (tracks 6–7) Additional musicians *

Harry Rushakoff Harry Rushakoff (born November 16, 1958) is a former drummer for the band Concrete Blonde. He started his career in Chicago, playing with The Nodes and then with Special Affect (which featured Ministry's Al Jourgensen and My Life with the Th ...

– drums (tracks 1–2, 10, 13) *

Andy Prieboy Andy Prieboy (born April 17, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and author. He was lead singer of the band Wall of Voodoo from 1983 to 1988. Later, he produced solo albums, musicals, and a novel. Life and career Prieboy was born in Los ...

– additional voices (track 4), additional piano (track 9), piano (track 12) *

Jeff Trott Jeffrey Robert Trott is an American songwriter and record producer from San Francisco, California. He is perhaps most well-known for his collaborations with American singer Sheryl Crow, having co-written some of her biggest hits, including "If ...

– additional voices (track 4) * Texacala Jones – vocals (track 10) Production * Concrete Blonde – producer * Sean Freehill – producer, recording, additional drum programming * Alex Gordon, Robert Fayer – recording assistance *

Earle Mankey Earle Mankey (sometimes misspelled "Earl" in credits) (born March 8, 1947, in Washington, United States) is an American musician, record producer and audio engineer. He was a founding member and guitarist for the band Halfnelson, later called Sp ...

– additional recording * Robert Read – additional recording assistance *

Tim Palmer Tim Palmer may refer to: * Tim Palmer (film historian) (born 1975), English film historian * Tim Palmer (journalist), Australian journalist * Tim Palmer (1943-1997), British technology journalist * Tim Palmer (physicist) (born 1952), English physic ...

– mixing * Mark O'Donoghue, Jamie Seyberth – assistant mixers *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering Other * Johnette Napolitano – paintings, photographs * Stephen Stickler – band photograph * Brigid Pearson – cover design, assemblage

Charts

References

External links

Concrete Blonde (official website)
{{Authority control 1993 albums Concrete Blonde albums I.R.S. Records albums