''One Man Drives While the Other Man Screams'' is

Pere Ubu Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their ...

's second live album, covering the years 1978-1981 (dovetailing with their previous live release, '' 390° of Simulated Stereo'', which covered 1976-1978, but containing no recordings from 1979). The album contains live renditions of one non-album track; one from the first Pere Ubu album, ''

The Modern Dance ''The Modern Dance'' is the debut album by the American rock music, rock band Pere Ubu. It was released in February 1978 through the label Blank Records. A 5.1 surround sound version was released as the DVD-Audio side of a DualDisc in 2005. Cr ...

'' (incidentally a version of this track, ‘Street Waves’, also appears on '' 390° of Simulated Stereo);'' six songs from '' Dub Housing''; one from '' New Picnic Time'' and four from ''

The Art of Walking ''The Art of Walking'' is the fourth full-length album by Pere Ubu. Mayo Thompson of the Red Krayola joined as guitarist for this album and slanted the proceedings further towards deconstruction and abstraction, and away from the primal rock tha ...

''. The first six songs were recorded at London's

Electric Ballroom The Electric Ballroom is a 1,500-capacity performance venue (primarily for rock and roll, rock bands) and indoor market located at 184 Camden High Street in Camden Town, London, England. History The Electric Ballroom started as an Irish ballr ...

in November 1978 and feature Tom Herman on guitar. Herman left the group in 1979 (he would return in 1995). Tracks 7-11 were recorded at The Mistake in Cleveland in July 1980, and feature

Mayo Thompson Mayo Thompson (born February 26, 1944) is an American musician and visual artist best known as the leader of the experimental rock band Red Krayola. Background Mayo Thompson’s formal education includes Garden of Arts Kindergarten until Holy ...

on guitar in place of Herman, as do the last two tracks, recorded in Heidelberg, Germany in March 1981. ''One Man Drives...'' allows the listener to compare versions of the songs 'Small was Fast', 'Ubu Dance Party' (listed on the ''Dub Housing'' album as '(Pa) Ubu Dance Party') and 'Codex' with Thompson on guitar instead of Herman. Brett Milano of the Amherst ''Valley Advocate'' wrote in 1980 that Thompson 'has an intuitive sense of when to take off on spontaneous improvisation and when to hold everything together with some well-placed riffing.'

Critical reception

Critics were mixed as to the quality and value of ''One Man Drives While Another Man Screams''. Robert Lloyd wrote in the ''LA Weekly:'' Greg Kot in the Chicago ''Tribune'' suggested of this album and its predecessor '' 390° of Simulated Stereo'' that they were 'perhaps the best place for a fledgling Ubu fan to start, for though the sound is crude, they both emphasize the rock aspect of the band’s “art-rock” sound.' However Grant Alden in the Seattle ''Rocket'' wrote that 'the sound is surprisingly impenetrable… I could live with the mud if the performances were as inspired as, say,

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, dr ...

’s ''

Sabotage/Live ''Sabotage/Live'' is a live album by John Cale. It was recorded at CBGB, New York on 13–16 June 1979, and released by SPY Records in December 1979. Release A studio version of "Mercenaries (Ready for War)" was released as a single in the US ...

'', from the same period. They’re not. Ubu just doesn’t seem quite ''on'' during the shows excerpted here. The best songs are all represented but this collection does not do them justice.'Grant Alden, ‘Reviews’ Seattle ''Rocket'' 1 May 1989 p. 32 After remaining out of print for many years, the album was reissued in 2004. It is the first Pere Ubu album to be released only in CD format.

Track listing

#"Navvy" – 2:53 #"Street Waves" – 4:16 #"Heaven" – 3:09 #"On the Surface" – 2:37 #"Dub Housing" – 5:10 #"Caligari's Mirror" – 3:58 #"Small Was Fast" – 3:19 #"Misery Goats" – 2:49 #"Go" – 3:57 #"Ubu Dance Party" – 4:32 #"Birdies" – 3:06 #"Rhapsody in Pink" – 5:21 #"Codex" – 2:29

Personnel

;Pere Ubu * David Thomas - vocals *

- guitar *Tom Herman - guitar *

Allen Ravenstine Allen Ravenstine (born May 9, 1950) is an American keyboard player, most recognized for his work in the experimental rock group Pere Ubu. In 1991, he quit music to become a commercial airline pilot. History Early years Allen Ravenstine was ...

- EML synthesizers *

Tony Maimone Tony Maimone (born September 27, 1952) is a bass guitarist, producer, and recording engineer, who lives in Brooklyn, New York. He was a member of Pere Ubu from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, often playing with the drummer Scott Krauss. The ...

- bass guitar *

Scott Krauss Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their ...

- drums

References

{{Authority control Pere Ubu albums 1989 live albums Rough Trade Records live albums