I've owned quite a few of Current 93's albums for many years now, but the only ones I would ever listen to on a regular basis were "Nature Unveiled" and "Dogs Blood Rising" (the first two, in other words). It kind of took me awhile to get used to the more folk style of the later releases, but over the last year or so I've been giving all of them a listen and most of it is pretty good.
Along with "Dogs Blood Rising" (which was the first C93 album I ever purchased), my favorite is probably "Imperium", which I've been listening to a lot recently. I'm really interested in the backstory of this album, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information on it, on the internet at least. All most people say about it is how many fans see it as the most depressing C93 album, and also how Tibet was very ill and possibly near death at the time it was recorded (which I'm guessing was 1987, but the album has little in the way of liner notes: no dates it was recorded, no list of what musicians appeared on the album, and so on). Which makes me even more curious.
Does anyone here (I presume there must be some C93 fans here) know anything about this illness Tibet had, or the circumstances in which this album was recorded? I've been thinking of getting that book "England's Hidden Reverse" in the hopes that it might reveal more information on this C93 album and this particular phase in Tibet's life (among other reasons) but it seems the book is very hard to find these days, and most used booksellers sell it for very large amounts of money. Well, I think the book will be republished soon, but I digress.
I wonder if Tibet's eventual conversion had something to do with this illness, as it seems that "Imperium" was, at that point in C93's career, the most Biblical, at least in terms of lyrical content. I recall reading an interview with Tibet in that book "Tape Delay" where he said he thought all religions were just a load of shit. So it seems he must of really had a change of heart (I have no idea what year that the interview in question took place in as no date is given, but the only C93 albums that are mentioned in the interview are "LAShTAL" and "Nature Unveiled", so I'm assuming it was conducted pre-"Dogs Blood Rising"). Anyway, any info that people can give on me re: "Imperium" would be most helpful, thanks. |
