[.ca] Bread and Circus

Solid Album:
I will admit as w/ a few others here, Bread and Circus was my last addition to my Toad collection. It's hard to really compare this album to any other Toad ablum though. Simply b/c they were in the early stages of their music. 1989 wasn't really a year full of great music, it was a year full of experimenting music. You see alice in chains working on their debut, nirvana working on songs, but not yet clicking until a couple years later. R.E.M. doing their own little thing drastically altering their sound (see Out of Time) which they release in 91, a full 3 years after "green". U2, Soul Asylum, Soundgarden, Metallica, etc, etc. all these top bands are really actually starting to change their sound. So when Toad steps in, they fell right smack in the the middle of the crowd. Bread and Circus, is a classic nonetheless, if you are a devoted fan. It seems like every song has this dark, eerie, kinda sleepy tone to it, maybe w/ the exception of "One Little Girl" and "Unquiet" which shows some signs of pep, but even then, the haunting guitars and vocals overlook that. I think that the music scene at the time, really set toad on a direct path of songwriting. They sorta wanted to make it big, but also have a quality of sound that was unique and could compete with the soon ever so popular genre of "mainstream." The album, although really no singles i believe, provides some great songs. My favorites would be "Know Me" and "One Wind Blows". These may have found themselves easily on the "Pale" album, b/c they do bring the same quality of sound, but mainly b/c they are probably the most developed songs on the album. "Know Me", the longest song at 5:13, sorta starts off w/ some kind of storytelling which almost foreshadows the rest of the song which really actually picks up almost at the 45sec point. It's sort of a testiment of a young man trying to make a name for himself in the world, and wants everyone to really start to realize who he is. "One Wind Blows" which picks up immediately, is a nice little "pale"ish sort of upbeat guitar rythym ditty. There's really nothing too special about the words, but it shows signs that the band will be something for years to come. My other top picks include "Way Away", which in my opinion, sets the stage for the rest of the album. It's easy to listen from beginning to end, and is very free flowing. "When We Recover" is a short 3min depressing song in a sense that tells of hardships and unfortunate circumstances and hopes for a better life after the "recovery". It's a song of hope. "Always Changing" seems like a predesessor to other songs such as "Little Heaven", "Something's Always Wrong" and "Crazy Life". It's Bread and Circus' idea of the good slow song single. The rest of the album is fantastic of course, for me being a huge toad the wet sprocket fan. However, opinions often may vary. Check it out, it's a great album, then and now. Even in that turmultous time in music. The dreaded year of 1989.

• Way Away
• Scenes from a Vinyl Recliner
• Unquiet
• Know Me
• When We Recovered
• One Wind Blows
• Pale Blue
• Always Changing Probably
• One Little Girl
• Covered in Roses