Two Steps From The Middle Ages

''Two Steps from the Middle Ages'' (1988) is the fifth studio album by power pop band Game Theory.

After having been out of print for nearly 30 years, the album was reissued by Omnivore Recordings in June 2017 on translucent orange vinyl, and as a CD with 11 bonus tracks. The release included a booklet featuring new essays by Mitch Easter, Ken Stringfellow, and critic Franklin Bruno.

History

Miller intended the album to be "a more straightforward, singles-based record" than its predecessor, ''Lolita Nation'', according to ''PopMatters''.

The title of the song "Room For One More, Honey" was a reference to an episode of the American television program ''The Twilight Zone'' titled '' Twenty Two''. According to guitarist Donnette Thayer, the serendipitous addition of the sound of clinking wine glasses to "Room for One More, Honey" stood out to her, years later, "because it symbolizes so much of what I loved about Scott's writing and what we did as members of Game Theory," in that the group's "glasses may seem empty by traditional standards — but this was unimportant to us... We had different objectives."

The album's title has at least a double meaning (referring to both dance steps from the historical period known as the Middle Ages as well as to a person who is "two steps" from middle age) and comes from an alternating rhyme in the fifth track:

Unfolding their defense in stages
Harshest critics can't refuse
Two steps from the middle ages
Rose details and ruby shoes

After the group was disbanded in 1990, leader Scott Miller went on to form The Loud Family. Game Theory would not release another album until '' Supercalifragile'' came out in 2017, four years after Miller's death.

In 2012, the song "Rolling with the Moody Girls" was covered by Home Blitz on their EP ''Frozen Track''.

Reception

According to '' Option''s Jason Cohen, "Game Theory went out with more of a whimper than a blast" with ''Two Steps from the Middle Ages''.

In contrast, ''PopMatters'' wrote in its review of the 2017 reissue, "The band as a whole plays more aggressively on the album's songs, from ilRay's muted yet driving drum pulse that opens the album through helleyLaFreniere's heavier, more ominous keyboard contributions. Miller's guitar playing is less foregrounded than on previous albums, allowing space for his bandmates to fill the sound." Reviewer Ed Whitelock added that the album "point dforward towards what would, by 1993, become fashionable under the 'alternative' label. One can hear echoes of Game Theory's trailblazing in many of the bands that enjoyed success in the early '90s, including Belly and, especially, Smashing Pumpkins."

''The Big Takeover''s Elizabeth Klisiewicz placed the album in the context of Scott Miller's breakup with Donnette Thayer and his self-admitted depression, finding that a pervasive "feeling of melancholy ... resides within the tracks, complex and beautiful as they are." In her assessment,

Track listing

Personnel

* Guillaume Gassuan - bass and backing vocals
* Gil Ray - drums, backing vocals and guitar
* Donnette Thayer - guitar and vocals
* Shelley LaFreniere - synthesizers and backing vocals
* Scott Miller - vocals and guitar

References

External links

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1988 albums
Game Theory (band) albums
Albums produced by Mitch Easter
Enigma Records albums