''Strategem'' was the fourth studio album by

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

Big Head Todd and the Monsters, released in 1994. It was the band's second

Giant Records In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

release, following their platinum ''

Sister Sweetly ''Sister Sweetly'' is the third album by the Colorado rock band Big Head Todd and the Monsters, released in 1993. It was the band's first album with Giant Records. ''Sister Sweetly'' sold more than 1,000,000 copies, going platinum. The album was ...

'' released the year before. While the album failed to match the sales and popularity of the band's previous effort, several individual tracks were positively received by reviewers, including "Kensington Line" and "Neckbreaker". Several verses on the album were inspired by Buddhist

koan A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen. Etymology The Japanese term is the Sino-Jap ...

s. The band recorded the album in an empty theater in

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and attempted to return to a more indie music sound in the wake of their more commercial-sounding effort in "Sister Sweetly". "Strategem" was a deliberate misspelling by the band of "

stratagem Stratagem, Stratagems, or Strategema may refer to: Books * ''Strategemata'', or ''Stratagems'', a first-century book by Frontinus * ''Stratagems'' (Polyaenus), or ''Strategemata'', a second-century book by Polyaenus Media * "Stratagem" (''Star ...

", used in the album title and also found in the song title "Strategem", and in the lyrics of that song: "Here I stand by lovely strategem."Larkin The Virgin encyclopedia of nineties music Muze UK Ltd – 2000– Page 44 "Strategem icwas disappointing, despite unveiling further gritty displays of rural blues rock on tracks such as 'Neckbreaker' (inspired by fourteenth-century mystic St. John Of The Cross) and 'Angel Leads Me On'. "

Track listing

All songs written by

Todd Park Mohr Todd Park Mohr (born October 19, 1965) is the singer and guitarist for the American rock band Big Head Todd and the Monsters, as well as being their namesake and primary lyricist. A founding member of the band, he also occasionally provides keyb ...

#"Kensington Line" – 3:19 #"Strategem" – 4:25 #"Wearing Only Flowers" – 4:43 #"Neckbreaker" – 3:57 #"Magdelina" – 4:55 #"Angel Leads Me On – 5:01 #"In the Morning" – 3:56 #"Candle 99" – 4:28 #"Greyhound" – 2:56 #"Poor Miss" – 4:25 #"Shadowlands" – 5:10

Personnel

– vocals, guitar, piano * Rob Squires – bass, background vocals * Brian Nevin – drums, percussion, background vocals * Nick Forster – steel guitar, slide guitar * Al Laughlin – organ *

Hazel Miller Hazel Miller is an American blues, pop and gospel singer. Originally from Kentucky, she has performed in the Denver, Colorado area since 1984. Early life Miller was born in Louisville, Kentucky as one of seven children. She began singing profe ...

– background vocals * Big Head Todd and the Monsters – producers, engineers * Andy Torri – producer, engineer * Andy Wallace – mixing * Howie Weinberg – mastering * Steve Sisco – mixing assistant * Kevin Clock – "transfers" * Mickey Houlihan – "sounds" * Janet Levinson – design * Stephen McNamara – digital editing * Jeff Shuey – digital editing, "transfers" * Simeon Soffer – photography

References

{{Authority control 1994 albums Big Head Todd and the Monsters albums Giant Records (Warner) albums Buddhist music albums