''Not Available'' is the fourth studio album by the American band

the Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vid ...

, released in 1978. The album was allegedly meant to only be released once its creators completely forgot about its existence (adhering to their "Theory of Obscurity," in which an artist's purest work is created without an audience); however, due to ongoing delays in the release of ''

Eskimo ''Eskimo'' () is a controversial Endonym and exonym, exonym that refers to two closely related Indigenous peoples: Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Canadian Inuit, and the Greenlandic Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Sibe ...

'', ''Not Available'' was released to supply the demand for new Residents material, given their unexpected critical and commercial success following the release of the '' Duck Stab'' EP.

History

It is said that the lyrics and themes of ''Not Available'' arose from personal tensions within the group, and that the project began as a private

psychodrama Psychodrama is an action method, often used as a psychotherapy, in which clients use spontaneous Adaptation (arts), dramatization, role playing, and dramatic self-presentation to investigate and gain insight into their lives. Developed by Jaco ...

before being adapted into a possible operetta. While the project never took off theatrically, it was still molded into a sort of concept album, taking use of assorted musical ideas, some of them recorded for the group's unfinished film project, '' Vileness Fats.'' It is unknown if further overdubs were added onto the album predating its release in 1978, though the pREServed single “Not Available (Work In Progress)” would indicate that additional overdubs and edits were made. It is possible that the album was shelved not to fulfill the "Theory of Obscurity," but because it was simply too personally revealing.Liner notes for the MVD 2011 edition of ''Not Available''.

Music

The music on ''Not Available'' is fairly different from any other music the Residents recorded in the time period it was supposedly conceived in, both in compositional skill and audio quality. Fans have theorized that the music could have been recorded at a later period. The album is split into four parts and an epilogue, with the Residents' characteristic use of drum machines, classical percussion, cartoonish vocals, grand piano and horns, as well as notably the use of string synthesizers. The lyrics and plot of ''Not Available'' are told in a densely surrealistic manner, notably making use of a

Greek chorus A Greek chorus () in the context of ancient Greek tragedy, comedy, satyr plays, is a homogeneous group of performers, who comment with a collective voice on the action of the scene they appear in, or provide necessary insight into action which ...

and a particular piano composition that is presented as a theme for one of the album's characters - the full recording was released in 2010 as "Available Piece." A 2011 reissue of the album extended its duration by approximately seven minutes, allegedly its original length. A mix of the album's multitrack tapes (originally titled ''X is for Xtra'') was released in 2019 on a deluxe edition of the album.

Critical reception

The ''

Spin Alternative Record Guide The ''Spin Alternative Record Guide'' is a music reference book compiled by the American music magazine ''Spin (magazine), Spin'' and published in 1995 by Vintage Books. It was editing, edited by the rock music, rock critic Eric Weisbard and Crai ...

'' labeled the album "free-form avant-gardism."

Track listing

1987 CD bonus tracks

Tracks 6-11 taken from '' Title in Limbo'', a 1983 album made in collaboration with Renaldo and the Loaf.

2011 extended edition

2018 pREServed edition

After 10 minutes of silence following track 19, an unlisted track plays lasting 4:46.

References

External links

Not Available on Prog Archives

{{Authority control The Residents albums Rock operas 1978 albums 1970s concept albums Ralph Records albums