''Grand Guignol'' is the second full-length studio album released by John Zorn's band Naked City in 1992 on the Japanese

Avant AVANT, also known as AVANT street art guerrilla collective, was the artist group active in New York City from 1980 to 1984. By 1984 AVANT had produced thousands of acrylic on paper paintings and plastered them on walls, doors, bus-stops and gallerie ...

label. The album followed '' Torture Garden'', which was a compilation of "

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

miniatures" from '' Naked City'' and ''Grand Guignol''. The album is notable for the inclusion of

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of pieces written by classical composers, the guest vocal of Bob Dorough, and also, like ''Torture Garden'', a selection of "hardcore miniatures" (tracks 9–41) which are intense, fast-tempo, brief compositions, which feature the wailing of Zorn's alto sax, and the screams of

Yamatsuka Eye (born , 13 February 1964) is a Japanese vocalist and visual artist, best known as a member of Boredoms and Naked City. He has changed his stage name three times, from Yamatsuka Eye, to Yamantaka Eye, to Yamataka Eye, and sometimes calls hims ...

. The album is titled after the infamous

Grand Guignol ''Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol'' (: "The Theatre of the Great Puppet")—known as the Grand Guignol–was a theatre in the Pigalle district of Paris (7, cité Chaptal). From its opening in 1897 until its closing in 1962, it specialised in natura ...

theater in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, which was open from 1897 to 1962, where performances centered around extreme violence. ''Grand Guignol'' was remastered and re-released in 2005 as part of the

Tzadik Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...

box set '' Naked City: The Complete Studio Recordings'', with the bonus track "Grand Guignol (Version Vocale)" featuring

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...

, and an altered track sequencing.

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

review by Ted Mills awarded the album 4 stars stating "Naked City's follow up to their self-titled album is a departure from the New York noir that they had perfected... A rewarding album."Mills, T
Allmusic Review
accessed July 22, 2011

In popular culture

Two of the tracks ("Bonehead" and "Hellraiser") were featured in the soundtrack to

Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, G ...

's 1997 film '' Funny Games'', and in Haneke's 2008 remake.

Track listing

:''All compositions and arrangements by John Zorn, except where noted.'' #"Grand Guignol" – 17:41 #"

La cathédrale engloutie "La cathédrale engloutie" (The Sunken Cathedral) is a prelude written by the French composer Claude Debussy for solo piano. It was published in 1910 as the tenth prelude in Debussy's first of two volumes of twelve piano preludes each. It is cha ...

" – 6:24 ( Claude Debussy) #"Three Preludes Op. 74: Douloureux, déchirant" – 1:17 ( Alexander Scriabin) #" Three Preludes Op. 74: Très lent, contemplatif" – 1:43 (Scriabin) #"Three Preludes Op. 74: Allegro drammatico" – 0:49 (Scriabin) #"

Prophetiae Sibyllarum ''Prophetiae Sibyllarum'' ("Sibylline Prophecies" or "Sibylline Oracles") are a series of twelve motets by the Franco-Flemish composer Orlande de Lassus. The works are known for their extremely chromatic idiom. History This cycle of motets is ...

" – 1:46 (

Orlande de Lassus Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Pale ...

) #"The Cage" – 2:01 ( Charles Ives) #" Louange à l'éternité de Jésus" – 7:08 ( Olivier Messiaen) #"Blood Is Thin" – 1:02 #"Thrash Jazz Assassin" – 0:47 #"Dead Spot" – 0:33 #"Bonehead" – 0:54 #"Piledriver" – 0:36 #"Shangkuan Ling-Feng" – 1:16 #"Numbskull" – 0:31 #"Perfume of a Critic's Burning Flesh" – 0:26 #"Jazz Snob: Eat Shit" – 0:26 #"The Prestidigitator" – 0:46 #"No Reason to Believe" – 0:28 #"Hellraiser" – 0:41 #"Torture Garden" – 0:37 #"Slan" – 0:24 #"The Ways of Pain" – 0:33 #"The Noose" – 0:13 #"Sack of Shit" – 0:46 #"Blunt Instrument" – 0:56 #"Osaka Bondage" – 1:17 #"Shallow Grave" – 0:42 #"Kaoru" – 0:53 #"Dead Dread" – 0:48 #"Billy Liar" – 0:13 #"Victims of Torture" – 0:24 #"Speedfreaks" – 0:50 #"New Jersey Scum Swamp" – 0:44 #"S/M Sniper" – 0:17 #"Pigfucker" – 0:24 #"Cairo Chop Shop" – 0:25 #"Facelifter" – 0:57 #"Whiplash" – 0:22 #"The Blade" – 0:30 #"Gob of Spit" – 0:21

Personnel

* John Zorn –

alto sax The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B ten ...

, vocals *

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

Wayne Horvitz Wayne Horvitz (born 1955) is an American composer, keyboardist and record producer. He came to prominence in the Downtown scene of 1980s and '90s New York City, where he met his future wife, the singer, songwriter and pianist Robin Holcomb. He ...

– keyboards * Fred Frith – bass *

Joey Baron Bernard Joseph Baron (born June 26, 1955 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer who plays frequently with Bill Frisell and John Zorn. Music career Baron was born on June 26, 1955, in Richmond Virginia. When he was nine, ...

– drums *

– vocals * Bob Dorough – vocals (on "The Cage")

Notes

{{Authority control 1992 albums Naked City (band) albums Albums produced by John Zorn Avant Records albums