Mission of Burma Albums (5)
'The Sound the Speed the Light'
Release Date 10/6/2009
Tracks 12
Label Matador
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
In a decade that's been filled with alternative rock warhorses staging increasingly unlikely reunions (ranging from the Stooges to the Pixies), one can reasonably argue that no band has had a more satisfying second act than Mission of Burma. They were a group with almost peerless credibility and a catalog destined to stand the test of time when they broke up in 1983, and since returning to duty in 2002, in many respects they've become an even better band, playing consistently strong and blisteringly powerful live shows and recording two albums, Onoffon and The Obliterati, that are as intelligent and satisfying as those they released in the 1980s. So if The Sound the Speed the Light can be called a disappointment, it's only in the most relative terms; from a band that's released two great albums within a space of three years after 19 years out of the game, this one instead falls into the category of "very good." Mission of Burma are playing as well as ever on The Sound the Speed the Light; Peter Prescott's drumming manages to be both inventive and relentless, giving the music a solid root even as he pushes the songs forward, while Clint Conley's bass is a perfect foil, both agile and commanding, and Roger Miller's guitar stubbornly and joyously defies any and all clichés pertaining to lead guitar in rock & roll. However, while Bob Weston's engineering and production capture the details pretty well, the results lack the solid punch of the previous Mission of Burma 2.0 releases, making the more dynamic performances sound hollow rather than spacious. And the vocals are often a bit too low in the mix to be comfortable, though Weston's tape loops play a larger and more effective role than before. And as a set of songs, this album falls a bit short of the standards established by MoB's previous work; "1, 2, 3, Partyy!," "One Day We Will Live There," and "Slow Faucet" are anthemic in the great Burma tradition, and "SSL 83," "Feed," and "Comes Undone" show they can effectively work with less aggressive material, but there isn't much else here that sounds like it's worthy of this group's A list. The Sound the Speed the Light falls a few feet short of the level of excellence Mission of Burma have set for themselves in the past -- though most contemporary bands would be overjoyed to make an album as interesting and compelling as this one. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
When Mission of Burma released Onoffon in 2004, a large part of the album's charge for fans came from the mere fact it existed at all -- after calling it quits in 1983 thanks to Roger Miller's hearing problems, Mission of Burma seemed like the least likely of all great bands to reunite, and that they were able to reconvene in the recording studio without embarrassing themselves felt nearly as important as the quality of the music, strong and powerful as it was. So the fact MoB are still together in 2006 ups the ante for their second post-reunion album, and The Obliterati wastes no time proving that Onoffon's excellence was neither a fluke nor a trick of post-punk nostalgia. While the presence of songs like "Prepared" and "Nicotine Bomb" on Onoffon suggested maturity had made Mission of Burma a more subtle band, The Obliterati is the most aggressive and physically powerful record they've created to date -- from the moment "2wice" bursts from the speakers, this music never stops exploding like an artfully arranged case of fireworks, and the liberating energy and righteous rage of these 14 songs easily matches their salad days of combining the guitar-powered rage of punk with the intelligence and sonic adventure of art rock. While The Obliterati is short on explicit sloganeering, much of the disc's fury is clearly motivated by the polarizing policies of the George W. Bush administration, and "1001 Pleasant Dreams," "Nancy Reagan's Head," "Period," and "Spider's Web" find them putting their anger to excellent use -- this stuff is all crashing percussion from Peter Prescott, thick but nimble basslines from Clint Conley, and guitar leads from Roger Miller that hit their mark like a crystal sledgehammer. And while "Donna Sumeria" and "13" take a slightly more measured approach, both rise into a glorious peals of noise before they leave the stage. Bob Weston's engineering captures Burma's high-impact sound with commendable clarity and crunch, and his tape loops and sonic manipulations bring imaginative and effective punctuation to the arrangements. Mission of Burma's ability to rock out in a smart and ambitious manner without sacrificing their edgy, potent force has consistently made them one of the few bands to fully balance the mind-body equation, and The Obliterati suggests their music has been on a solid workout regimen that would exhaust Henry Rollins, while their brains can keep up without breaking a sweat. Sonic rabble-rousing doesn't get much better than this. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This wasn't supposed to happen. After breaking up in 1983, Mission of Burma spent almost 20 years as the band who went away before they could get stale, run out of ideas, or lose their edge, but they weren't supposed to come back. No one figured them to re-emerge on-stage in 2002 for a series of reunion shows in which they would not only sound as strong as ever (if not stronger), but reaffirm themselves as one of America's great rock bands, an ensemble of uncommon intelligence, imagination, and force. But most startling of all, few could have guessed that Mission of Burma would return to the recording studio and emerge with an album that stands comfortably beside the striking recorded legacy they left behind in their earlier incarnation. First and foremost, Onoffon manages the not inconsiderable achievement of sounding like Mission of Burma -- a 22-year recording layoff has done nothing to blur the group's signature sound, and Roger Miller's crystalline shards of guitar, Clint Conley's melodic and propulsive bass, and Peter Prescott's inventive but muscular percussion appear to have aged not a day in the interim. But this isn't the work of a reconstituted band slipping back into an old formula -- cuts like "The Enthusiast," "The Setup," and "Fake Blood" are classic Burma, howling with energy and id, but the clanky, vaguely country undertow of "Nicotine Bomb," the skeletal textures of "Prepared," and the fretful calm of "What We Really Were" and "Max Ernst's Dream" reveal three musicians who are still adding fresh details to their sonic canvas. And while Bob Weston doesn't slavishly mimic the aural clouds of tape loops generated by Martin Swope (who opted not to participate in this reunion) during Burma's salad days, his sonic treatments (and non-intrusive production) serve the same function and mesh with the group's music with welcome grace. Though Onoffon doesn't quite top Burma's 1982 masterpiece, Vs. (remarkably, until now the band's only full-length studio album), it manages to sound like the more than worthy follow-up they could have cut a couple years later -- only with two decades of experience and musical detours informing its nooks and crannies. Onoffon is an album that neither embraces the past as empty nostalgia nor ignores the events of the past two decades -- it presents Mission of Burma reborn into the 21st century, as original and relevant as they've ever been, and their return is as welcome a surprise as anyone could hope for. Inexplicable, and gloriously so. [Analog loyalists take note: the two-LP vinyl edition of Onoffon includes a bonus track, a cracking cover of the Dils' classic "Class War."] ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The EP Signals, Calls and Marches suggested that Mission of Burma had the talent and vision to become one of America's great rock bands; the subsequent album Vs. proved beyond a doubt that the group had arrived and was fully realizing its potential. MOB's blend of punk rock fury and post-collegiate musical smarts had been honed to a razor-sharp point by the time Vs. was recorded, and they had fully worked through the British influences that occasionally surfaced on Signals, Calls and Marches, maturing into a band whose sound was as distinctive as anyone of its generation. Roger Miller's guitar work had gained greater depth and confidence in the year since Signals, the rhythm section of Clint Conley and Peter Prescott epitomized both strength and intelligence, and MOB were exploring trickier structures and more dramatic use of dynamics this time out; the subtle tension of "Trem Two" and the powerful midtempo angst of "Einstein's Day" were a genuine step forward in the group's development, while "The Ballad of Johnny Burma," "Fun World," and "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate" made it clear that the band had lost none of its rib-cracking impact along the way. It's daunting to imagine just how far Mission of Burma could have taken its music had Roger Miller's hearing problems not caused the band to break up the following year, but regardless of lost potential, very few American bands from the 1980s released an album as ambitious or as powerful as Vs., and it still sounds like a classic. Rykodisc's remastered 1997 reissue sounds terrific and adds four solid bonus tracks. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'The Horrible Truth About Burma'
Release Date 1/1/1985
Tracks 26
Label Ace of Hearts
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Signals, Calls and Marches and Vs. proved that Mission of Burma were one of the best American bands to emerge in the wake of punk's first wave (and before the rise of indie rock), and no one who saw them live seems willing to dispute that they were a powerhouse on-stage. So no one could fault Mission of Burma for commemorating their final tour in 1983 with a live album, but the truth about The Horrible Truth About Burma is it simply isn't as strong as the studio recordings that preceded it; the performances are often superb, but the material on their final gesture lets them down. Mission of Burma chose to fill The Horrible Truth with songs that hadn't previously appeared on an album, which was a fine idea on paper, since the band wanted to preserve tunes that might otherwise be lost to the ages. But while there's isn't a bad song to be found, the best original tunes are the ones that had already earned radio exposure in Boston as demos (in particular "Peking Spring" and "Dirt"), and while "Tremelo" and "Blackboard" were doubtless compelling performance pieces, as songs they don't scale the same heights as "That's When I Reach for My Revolver," "Einstein's Day" or "Fun World." (However, one wonders if Steve Albini was in attendance at the Chicago show where "Dumbells" was recorded, given its resemblance to his signature guitar style.) It seems significant that two of the strongest cuts are covers: a ferocious run-through of the Stooges' "1970," and a nearly nine-minute journey through "Heart of Darkness" by Pere Ubu. And while Mission of Burma are in strong, hard-hitting form throughout, they lack a bit of the fierce precision that made Vs. so memorable. The Horrible Truth About Burma is a fine souvenir for fans but not much of an intro for beginners; the home video release Live at the Bradford, shot at the band's final concert, does a superior job of capturing what made this group so compelling. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
