''Themes from Venus'' is an album by the American band

Love Tractor Love Tractor (1980–current) is a band from Athens, Georgia, founded in spring 1980 by guitarists Mark Cline and Mike Richmond, and bassist Armistead Wellford, students at the University of Georgia. Like The B-52's, Pylon (band), Pylon and R.E. ...

. It was released in 1988, and marked a return to an independent label, after the bankruptcy of

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

-affiliated Big Time Records. The band broke up after promoting the album, but reunited a few times over the course of the 1990s; while promoting the album, Love Tractor became the first rock band to play at

Jamestown, Virginia The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James (Powhatan) River about southwest of the center of modern Williamsburg. It was ...

. Love Tractor also promoted ''Themes from Venus'' by touring with Too Much Joy and by opening for

the B-52s The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, pe ...

on their ''

Cosmic Thing ''Cosmic Thing'' is the fifth studio album by American new wave band the B-52's, released in 1989. It contains the singles " Love Shack" and " Roam". The success of the album served as a comeback after the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson in 19 ...

'' tour. ''Themes from Venus'' was rereleased in remastered versions in 2022 on Propeller Sound Recordings. The CD and digital versions include six new mixes, including some by

Brendan O'Brien Brendan O'Brien may refer to: *Brendan O'Brien (bishop) (born 1943), Roman Catholic archbishop of Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Brendan O'Brien (cricketer) (born 1942), Irish former cricketer *Brendan O'Brien (journalist), senior Irish journalist on R ...

Production

The album was produced by

Mitch Easter Mitchell Blake Easter (born November 15, 1954) is a musician, songwriter, and record producer. Frequently associated with the jangle pop style of guitar music, he is known as producer of R.E.M.'s early albums from 1981 through 1984, and as frontm ...

and Love Tractor. The band recorded the songs they had, without doing any preproduction work before entering the studio.

Critical reception

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' considered the album to be the band's best to that point, calling it "full of quirky invention and strange, funny pop sounds." ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' deemed the songs "lusty and inebriating, an extended headrush without the hangover." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' stated that, "wrapped in a deceptively easygoing aura, Love Tractor's full, rich-textured sound nonetheless hits a propulsive groove more than once, layering guitar lines that alternate between fat, echoey notes and icy little stabs over a solid rhythmic underpinning from bass and drums." The ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'' determined that "it's a cunning foray into densely textured, multilayered pop that belies their Athens roots and may be their best effort to date... ''Themes from Venus'' isn't an artistic statement so much as a sonic playground, a therapeutic avenue for Easter and Love Tractor to escape their respective pigeonholes." The ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'' noted that the band is "still a quirky and delightful blend of discarded pop riffs, odd instrumentals and strange lyrics to tickle one's eccentric fancies."

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 databas ...

wrote that "the tunes on ''Themes from Venus'' are longer and less structured than those on ''Outerspace Ship'', the grooves are at once loopier and more prominent, and while most of the songs have vocals, the words take a definite back seat to the music."

Track listing

Additional tracks on remastered and expanded edition on Propeller Sound Recordings * "Nighttime Time Zone" (Brendan O'Brien mix) * "Hey Mess" (O'Brien mix) * "Fantasy" (Instrumental Mitch Easter mix) * "I Broke My Saw" (Long Version Easter mix) * "Satan's New Wave Soul Losers" (Instrumental Easter mix) * "Crash" (Instrumental Easter Mix)

References

{{Authority control Love Tractor albums 1988 albums DB Records albums Albums produced by Mitch Easter