transmission

...well, that might be a bit extreme to say, but none the less you should tune it in...

Transmission is the fourth full album by The Tea Party. Like their previous releases, Transmission is a deeply emotional album, fueled by Jeff Martin's compelling vocal style and weaving, orchestral instrumentation. The major difference in musical style from their previous albums is the use of abrasive industrial effects and strong dissonance. The use of noise in guitar-centred music is highly reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails, but where Nails uses exclusively Western musical bases, the Tea Party twist Middle Eastern and Indian musical styles as well to produce additional tension.

In a departure from the erudite and literate lyrics on earlier albums, the lyrics on this album are, for the most part, fragmented and twisted. They are arranged for maximum rhythmic effect, with the result that the scansion becomes more important than the words themselves. This is similar to late 60s psychedelic music, but where it used the style to portray a sense of whimsy or dreaminess, the euphoric side of drug use, here it is used to give a sense of a hard comedown or bad trip. Most of the album has the sense of a nightmare from which you cannot wake. The lyrics tell of death, destruction, and decay, of endings and partings, of pain but also of surprising pleasure. There are some lyrical disasters along the way, such as "I slept the night with the spleen", but on the whole the lyrics work.

Musically, the album is all very dark. It opens with several tense, heavy songs, and closes with the slow, reflective Aftermath. In between, the level of tension decreases in several abrupt jumps, adding to the nightmarish feel of the album. Most of the lyrics are either screamed or sung very close to a scream, though this does not necessarily convey an impression of anger. This adds to Jeff Martin's already compelling vocal style to produce a certain something that draws you into the nightmare, and in a way entices you to remain there.

Although this may not be the Tea Party's greatest album, it remains worth listening to. Like any other of their albums, this is something you can drown yourself in.

Track listing:

1. Temptation (3:25)
2. Army Ants (3:33)
3. Psychopomp (5:17)
4. Gyroscope (2:58)
5. Alarum (4:58)
6. Release (4:05)
7. Transmission (5:17)
8. Babylon (2:52)
9. Pulse (4:09)
10. Emerald (4:51)
11. Aftermath (5:43)

Trans*mis"sion (?), n. [L. transmissio; cf. F. transmission. See Transmit.]

1.

The act of transmitting, or the state of being transmitted; as, the transmission of letters, writings, papers, news, and the like, from one country to another; the transmission of rights, titles, or privileges, from father to son, or from one generation to another.

2. Law

The right possessed by an heir or legatee of transmitting to his successor or successors any inheritance, legacy, right, or privilege, to which he is entitled, even if he should die without enjoying or exercising it.

© Webster 1913.