''Priest=Aura'' (styled as ''priest=aura'') is the eighth album by the Australian

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band The Church, released in March 1992. It peaked at No. 25 on the

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Background

After touring their previous album, ''

Gold Afternoon Fix ''Gold Afternoon Fix'' is the sixth album by the Australian alternative rock band the Church, released in April 1990. It was their second album for Arista Records in the US and was expected to capitalise and build on the success of 1988's ''Sta ...

'' (1990), with new drummer

Jay Dee Daugherty Jay Dee Daugherty (born March 22, 1952) is an American drummer and songwriter most known for his work with Patti Smith. As a member of the Patti Smith Group, he has been nominated twice to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Biography Moving to N ...

(

Patti Smith Group Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

), The Church returned to Sydney's

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to commence work on new material. With lowered commercial expectations and less pressure from

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

, the atmosphere was more relaxed than the fraught L.A. sessions for their previous two albums. Bringing in British producer Gavin MacKillop (

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) to supervise the sessions, the band began to improvise the framework for the next set of songs. The use of opium and, for Kilbey, heroin, saw the material take on a more expansive and surreal quality, while Daugherty's occasionally jazz-like approach on drums brought a fresh change. Peter koppes has said "When we made Priest = Aura we were completely opiated – we were getting opium from fields in Tasmania, where it was being grown by US pharmaceutical companies.�

Titled ''Priest=Aura'', from Kilbey's misreading of a Spanish fan's English vocabulary notes ('priest' = 'cura'), the album contained fourteen tracks, several over six minutes long. At nearly 65 minutes, it was their longest release so far. With song concepts derived from cryptic, one-word working titles (an idea originally proposed by Willson-Piper), the lyrics leaned towards the abstract and esoteric. Emphasising free association and undirected coincidence between music and motif, Kilbey declined to define their meanings. Sonically, the interplay between Koppes and Willson-Piper dominated throughout, especially on tracks such as "Ripple," "Kings," and the epic, aptly titled "Chaos", whose lyrics were a reflection of Kilbey's unsettled lifestyle at the time. Upon its release on 10 March 1992 (it was issued in the United States slightly before Australia), ''Priest=Aura'' had less chart success than any of its predecessors, although it peaked in the

Top 30. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until

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(ARIA) created their own

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in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974 It was given a mixed reception. ''

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''s Ira Robbins called the album "rich in texture" but with an "arid atmosphere". The band went on a sold-out tour of Australia (the "Jokes-Magic-Souvenirs" tour), as Kilbey prepared for the birth of his twin daughters, but after the final gig founding guitarist

Peter Koppes Peter Koppes (born 21 November 1955) is an Australian guitarist, best known as a founding and almost-continuous member of the independent rock band The Church. He is a multi-instrumentalist, also playing mandolin, drums, piano, and harmonica. ...

announced his departure. Increasing personality conflicts, especially with Willson-Piper, who had been moonlighting with UK band

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, combined with frustration over The Church's declining chart success had made the situation intolerable. Koppes would eventually return to guest with the band on their 1996 album ''

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'' and rejoined permanently in 1997. Despite its muted reception at the time of release, ''Priest=Aura'' is considered by both the band and fan base to be an artistic high point. In 2011 the album, along with '' Untitled #23'' and ''

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,'' was played in its entirety on the band's 30th Anniversary "Future, Past, Perfect" tour. In his 2014 autobiography, ''Something Quite Peculiar'', Kilbey calls it their "undisputed masterpiece". The original 1992 Australian release was bundled with the 1991 rarities album ''A Quick Smoke at Spot's: Archives 1986-1990''. A 2-CD remastered edition was released in Australia in 2005. The second disc included the tracks "Ripple (single edit)", "Nightmare", "Fog", "Feel (extended mix)", "Drought" and "Unsubstantiated". In 2011,

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re-released the album as part of their ''30th Anniversary Remaster'' series, with the bonus tracks "Nightmare" and "Fog", in a cardboard sleeve with a booklet containing lyrics, photos and sleeve notes by Marty Willson-Piper.

Track listing

All songs written by Kilbey/Koppes/Willson-Piper/Daugherty except "Mistress", by Kilbey/Koppes/Willson-Piper # "Aura" – (6:59) # "Ripple" – (6:03) # "Paradox" – (3:59) # "Lustre" – (5:45) # "Swan Lake" – (2:26) # "Feel" – (3:55) # "Mistress" – (4:12) # "Kings" – (4:35) # "Dome" – (4:00) # "Witch Hunt" – (1:27) # "The Disillusionist" – (6:24) # "Old Flame" – (1:37) # "Chaos" – (9:34) # "Film" – (3:56) # "Nightmare" – (3:39) (bonus track on reissued editions from 2011 onwards) # "Fog" – (3:31) (bonus track on reissued editions from 2011 onwards)

Personnel

Steve Kilbey Steven John Kilbey (born 13 September 1954) is an English Australians, English-Australian singer-songwriter and bass guitarist for the rock band The Church (band), the Church. He is also a music producer, poet, and painter. As of 2020, Kilbey h ...

– lead vocals, bass guitar, keyboards, guitar *

– guitars, keyboards, backing vocals *

Marty Willson-Piper Marty Willson-Piper (born 7 May 1958) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter best known as a former long-time member of the Australian psychedelic rock band The Church. He joined in 1980 after seeing an early gig where they were perform ...

– guitars, backing vocals *

– drums, percussion, keyboards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:PriestAura 1992 albums The Church (band) albums Arista Records albums