The Great Crusades are an American,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

–based

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band founded in 1996.

History

The Great Crusades began when Brian Krumm and Brian Hunt, both of whom were then students at the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univers ...

, started an art-pop band called the Suede Chain. The band released several albums on the

Parasol Records Parasol Records is an American independent record label based in Urbana, Illinois. The label was founded by Geoff Merritt as an outgrowth of the catalog Parasol Mail Order (which was started in 1991). The Parasol Records banner also includes t ...

imprint

Mud Records A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, usually text-based or storyboarded. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, ...

before breaking up in 1997. Krumm then started writing new music of a very different style, influenced by such artists as

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its career and pr ...

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

, and the Replacements, and

Uncle Tupelo Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to atten ...

. The result was the Great Crusades' first album under that name, 1998's ''The First Spilled Drink of the Evening''.

Reviews

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

' Eden Miller gave the Great Crusades' second album, ''Damaged Goods'', a favorable review, writing that "While The Great Crusades aren't doing anything new musically, with the basic rock line-up complimented every now and then with some ska-inspired horns, they don't need to be. The familiarity of their sound makes ''Damaged Goods'' easy to enjoy."

Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biography Marcus wa ...

wrote that on the band's third album, ''Never Go Home'', the Great Crusades "...carry themselves like Midwestern gangsters: with the determined, bitter nihilism of

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

in ''

Road to Perdition ''Road to Perdition'' is a 2002 American crime drama film directed by Sam Mendes. The screenplay was adapted by David Self from the graphic novel of the same name written by Max Allan Collins and illustrated by Richard Piers Rayner. The film ...

'', but also the gleeful nihilism of Billy Zane in '' This World, Then the Fireworks''." ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' gave their fourth album, 2004's ''Welcome to the Hiawatha Inn'', a rating of 3 out of 5. The review described the album as an improvement relative to its predecessor, 2002's ''Never Go Home'', which it called "disappointing". It also described the music on ''Welcome to the Hiawatha Inn'' as "bulging roadhouse rock, with the added croak of Krumm’s phlegmy

-isms."

Discography

*''The First Spilled Drink of the Evening'' (Mud, 1998; reissued by Trocadero in 1999) *''Damaged Goods'' (Checkered Past/Glitterhouse, 2000) *''Never Go Home'' (Glitterhouse, 2002) *''Welcome to the Hiawatha Inn'' (Glitterhouse, 2004) *''Four Thirty'' (Innocent Words, 2006) *''Keep Them Entertained'' (Glitterhouse, 2007) *''Who's Afraid of Being Lonely?'' (Lakeshore, 2011) *''Fiction to Shame'' (Glitterhouse, 2012) *''Thieves of Chicago'' (Blue Rose, 2014, Mud Records, 2015) *''Until the Night Turned to Day'' (Blue Rose, 2017, Mud Records, 2017)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Crusades, The Musical groups from Chicago Musical groups established in 1996 1996 establishments in Illinois Rock music groups from Illinois Parasol Records artists