The Residents- Wormwood: pREServed Edition Review

Aaron ConnAlbum Review, MusicLeave a Comment

Residents Wormwood concert

Residents Wormwood concertWith 2021 out of the way, Cherry Red Record and New Ralph Records have released the next installment in the Residents’ ongoing pREServed Edition series. For this installment, the label has reissued the group’s 1998 effort Wormwood. Not only has the album been remastered but it has also been given the box set treatment. The Wormwood Box is a massive nine disc box set devoted to the album and its tour, making this the biggest release from the series. As with earlier entries, this reissue of Wormwood is an impressive addition to the series.

Residents Wormwood Eyeball Cross

A Little History
It was 1998 and the Residents hadn’t released anything in a while. Their last effort, Have a Bad Day, was released in 1996- serving as the soundtrack to the CD-ROM video game Bad Day on the Midway (1995). With the new millennium on the way, the group decided that a biblically themed album would be appropriate to release. Being formed in Louisiana, the group were all raised as Christians when they were younger. Looking for inspiration for their new album, the group looked back at the Bible and found it to be quite frightening. With that, the foundation for the album’s concept had been laid out.

Album Review
Residents Wormwood Box Similar to Gingerbread Man and Freak Show, the songs on Wormwood all tell different stories. However with Wormwood, all of the stories are taken from the Bible, with a majority of the stories coming from the Old Testament. Most listeners might be familiar with several stories from the Bible, more than likely learning them from Sunday school. The stories found on Wormwood, however, are far more depraved tales. As mentioned in the original press release for the album, the Residents were not attacking or criticizing the Bible: it was just a reminder that the Bible isn’t always uplifting.

The stories on Wormwood cover a wide variety of taboo subjects: incest, adultery, rape, murder, torture, genital mutilation, human sacrifice- just to name a few. Some of the songs are about lesser known characters in the Bible while others cover lesser known stories about well-known characters. In regards to the latter, take the song “Fire Fall” for example: some might be familiar with the story of Lot and his wife, the latter of whom is turned into a pillar of salt after looking back at the destruction of Sodom. While the song is more so about Lot being saved by angels, the liner notes in the booklet add more context to the stories: after leaving Sodom, Lot’s daughters decide to get their father drunk and each have sex with him. In a way, Wormwood is similar to Eskimo: the Residents add an extra element to the listening experience.

With 20 songs to offer, Wormwood is a fairly diverse album: there’s a little bit of everything. While the group does lean towards their trademark Residents sound, there’s some variation here. An example of this can be found in the snazzy lounge/cabaret number “How to Get A Head,” a song sung by the daughter of Herodias about she was presented the head of John the Baptist on a dish. Other highlights include the electronic-ridden tale of King Belshazzar “God’s Magic Finger,” the terrifying Moses story  “Bridegroom of Blood,” and the catchy beats of the Song of Songs-inspired “I Hate Heaven.” As for the aforementioned “well-known characters”, listeners might be more familiar with the stories behind the titular “Cain and Abel,” the story of Abraham in “KILL HIM!” and “Judas Saves.”

If Wormwood had any weaknesses, it would be the aforementioned trademark Residents sound. While still enjoyable, the songs start sounding all the same. Also with this being 1998 and the age of the CD, the album is a little over an hour long. Despite this, some strengths can be found here: in tackling a book as massive as the Bible, it seems only fitting that the album would have a long runtime.

Bonus Discs
Residents Fillmore 1998 PosterAs stated before, this reissue of Wormwood is the biggest entry in the pREServed series to date. Given the amount of music on here, it’s tricky to review it all. With that in mind, the list below is a description of each of the eight others discs.

Disc 2 & 3: Early Worms– demos and early versions of the songs from the album
Disc 4 & 5: Wormwood at the Fillmore 1998– some of the earliest performances from the album’s tour
Disc 6: Roadworms– an album consisting of live-in-the-studio renditions of ten songs
Disc 7 & 8: Wormwood: Live in Europe 1999– a previously limited edition CD release of a later performance from the album’s tour
Disc 9: Woodworms– several bonus tracks + live renditions of the songs from 2001-2014

As with other bonus discs in the pREServed series, this is meticulously put together and it all sounds good. That being said, this is where the box set gets to be repetitive. The demos and later live renditions are okay but I could’ve done without them. Roadworms is impressive while the two live shows included in the set give an idea of what the live shows were like. Outside of the box set, one could look up the live video/DVD that was filmed of this tour.

Conclusion
The Wormwood Box is yet another solid release from the Residents. It’s a well pieced and packaged set of discs with hours and hours of music. However, this might be overwhelming to people who are casual listeners of the Residents and/or are new to their body of work. With nine discs to offer, the Wormwood Box retails for $72- which is very pricey. If you’re new to the Residents, I’d recommend sticking with the just the original album. If you are a diehard Residents fan and love this album, this is the set for you.

The pREServed Edition series will continue into 2022.  Along with this, there will be deluxe vinyl reissues of their earlier albums and a new original soundtrack for an upcoming movie.

review land

(Visited 663 times, 1 visits today)