''Mexican Moon'' is the fifth studio album by alternative rock band

Concrete Blonde Concrete Blonde was an American alternative rock band from Hollywood, California. They were initially active from 1982 to 1995, and reunited twice: first from 2001 to 2004, and again from 2010 to 2012. They were best known for their album ''Bloo ...

. ''Mexican Moon'' takes the gothic rock of the previous albums and adds more of a hard rock edge to it. Johnette Napolitano provided the vocals, bass guitar, samples, and the album artwork. Paul Thompson played drums and James Mankey played guitar. "Jenny I Read" details the rise to stardom and subsequent fall into happy obscurity of a fashion model (rumoured to be Bettie Page), while "Mexican Moon" finds Napolitano singing about a failed romance and fleeing into Mexico. The song "Jonestown" is a critique of the theology surrounding the

Jonestown The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, a U.S.–based cult under the leadership of Jim Jones. Jonestown became internationall ...

Massacre and opens with a minute-long sample of

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American preacher, political activist and mass murderer. He led the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978. In what he called "revolutionary suicide", ...

ranting about warfare. "End of the Line" is a

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...

song, written by

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ' ...

and released on ''

Siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisc ...

''. On the closing track, "Bajo la Lune Mexicana," Napolitano (who does not speak Spanish) wrote the Spanish lyrics, which are a literal translation of the lyrics to the album's title track. However, none of the verbs are conjugated, noun gender is ignored, and correct grammar is non-existent; it doesn't detract from the overall translation from Spanish to English.

Critical reception

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' wrote that "even in its quieter moments, ''Mexican Moon'' seethes with emotion." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' wrote: "Napolitano — who is still a mighty bad singer and doesn’t seem to know it — gives her headstrong, knicker-twisting all to the effort, and very nearly gets by on sheer gumption."

Track listing

All songs written by

Johnette Napolitano Johnette Napolitano (born Jonette L. Napolitano; September 22, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and bassist for the alternative rock group Concrete Blonde. Early life Johnette Nap ...

, except where noted.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''Mexican Moon'' CD album booklet. Concrete Blonde *

– vocals (all tracks), guitars (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7–8, 12), bass (tracks 1, 3–4, 7–8), keyboards (track 12), percussion (tracks 6–7, 9, 11), electric guitar (tracks 2, 13), piano (track 9) *

James Mankey James Andrew Mankey (born May 23, 1952 in Washington) is an American rock guitarist, most widely known as the co-founder and longtime guitarist of the band Concrete Blonde. Mankey was also the bassist with the band Sparks for their first two albu ...

– guitars (tracks 1, 4–12), bass (tracks 2, 5-6, 9–11, 13), guitar synthesizer (tracks 6–7, 11), vocals (track 9), Spanish guitar (tracks 2, 13), acoustic guitar (tracks 2, 13), additional voices (track 4) * Paul Thompson – drums (tracks 3–9, 11–12), timpani (tracks 3, 5), percussion (tracks 6–7) Additional musicians *

Harry Rushakoff Harry Rushakoff (born November 16, 1958) is a former drummer for the band Concrete Blonde. He started his career in Chicago, playing with The Nodes and then with Special Affect (which featured Ministry's Al Jourgensen and My Life with the Thr ...

– drums (tracks 1–2, 10, 13) *

Andy Prieboy Andy Prieboy (born April 17, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and author. He was lead singer of the band Wall of Voodoo from 1983 to 1988. He went on to record solo albums, musicals and wrote a novel. Life and career Prieboy was born ...

– additional voices (track 4), additional piano (track 9), piano (track 12) *

Jeff Trott Jeffrey Robert Trott is an American songwriter/producer and multi-instrumentalist who has collaborated with prominent artists across genres in the United States and abroad. Trott has been named BMI ''Songwriter of the Year''. He is known for w ...

– additional voices (track 4) * Texacala Jones – vocals (track 10) Production * Concrete Blonde – producer * Sean Freehill – producer, recording, additional drum programming * Alex Gordon, Robert Fayer – recording assistance *

Earle Mankey Earle Mankey (sometimes misspelled "Earl" in credits) (born March 8, 1947, in Washington, United States) is an American musician, record producer and audio engineer. He was a founding member and guitarist for the band Halfnelson, later called Sp ...

– additional recording * Robert Read – additional recording assistance *

Tim Palmer Timothy J. Palmer (born 4 October 1962, in North Shields) is an English record producer, audio engineer, guitarist and songwriter of rock music, rock and alternative rock, alternative music. He Audio mixing (recorded music), mixed Pearl Jam's d ...

– mixing * Mark O'Donoghue, Jamie Seyberth – assistant mixers *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

– mastering Other * Johnette Napolitano – paintings, photographs * Stephen Stickler – band photograph * Brigid Pearson – cover design, assemblage

Charts

References

External links

Concrete Blonde (official website)
{{Authority control 1993 albums Concrete Blonde albums I.R.S. Records albums