Crushed Velvet Apocalypse
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album|||
| name = The Crushed Velvet Apocalypse
| type = Album
| artist = The Legendary Pink Dots
| cover = The Crushed Velvet Apocalypse LPD.jpg
| alt =
| released = 1990
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = *Alternative pop
| length = 68:06 (CD)
46:41 (LP and cassette)
| label = Play It Again Sam/Wax Trax!, Caroline (Belgium, US)
Cacciocavallo/Soleilmoon (US)
SPV (Poland)
| producer = The Legendary Pink Dots
| prev_title = Four Days
| prev_year = 1990
| next_title = The Maria Dimension
| next_year = 1991
}}
The Crushed Velvet Apocalypse is an album by the Anglo-Dutch band the Legendary Pink Dots, released in 1990.{{cite journal |last1=Stubbs |first1=David |title=The Legendary Pink Dots |journal=Melody Maker |date=Jan 27, 1990 |volume=66 |issue=4 |page=27}}{{cite news |last1=DeWalt |first1=Rob |title=Dots the Way I Like It |work=The Santa Fe New Mexican |date=12 Nov 2010 |page=PA63}}{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Dave |title=Alternative Rock |date=2000 |publisher=Miller Freeman Books |page=458}} The album is a cult fan favorite.{{cite news |title=Pink Dots at Hard Rock Cafe |work=The Warsaw Voice |date=October 17, 2007}} Niels van Hoorn contributed on flute, saxophones, and clarinet.{{cite book |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |date=2003 |publisher=Rough Guides Ltd |page=589 |edition=2nd}}
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r11507|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic review]
|rev2 = Chicago Tribune
|rev2score = {{rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news |last1=Popson |first1=Tom |title=An intriguing dash of Dots eccentricity |work=Chicago Tribune |date=27 July 1990 |department=Friday |page=R}}
}}
The Chicago Tribune wrote: "Using instrumentation that includes electronics, guitar, sitar, flute and oboe, the longtime-cult-favorite Pink Dots craft a sometimes-stark, sometimes-elegant, sometimes-dreamy outing of neo-psychedelia and alternative pop that's imbued with a pronounced eccentricity of vision and a captivating originality of execution." Trouser Press noted that "Green Gang" "runs sitar/tabla meanderings into twittering flutes and winds up building a quietly disturbing skein of motorway noise."{{cite web |title=Legendary Pink Dots |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/legendary-pink-dots/ |website=Trouser Press |access-date=19 February 2023}}
In 2016, LA Weekly included Crushed Velvet Apocalypse on its list of classic goth albums.{{cite news |last1=Ohanesian |first1=Liz |title=10 Classic Goth Albums for People Who Don't Know Shit About Goth Music |work=LA Weekly |date=February 15, 2016 |department=Music}} Salt Lake City Weekly called the music "lush, luxurious and sensual, yet also dark and sinister, with a sense of mysticism that is foreboding more than comforting."{{cite news |last1=Staker |first1=Brian |title=Dots Come Full Circle |work=Salt Lake City Weekly |date=September 14, 2016}}
Track listing
{{track listing
| all_writing =
| headline =
| title1 = I Love You In Your Tragic Beauty
| length1 = 4:40
| title2 = Green Gang
| length2 = 7:38
| title3 = Hellsville
| length3 = 5:42
| title4 = Hellowe'en
| length4 = 1:17
| title5 = The Safe Way
| length5 = 4:31
| title6 = Just a Lifetime
| length6 = 7:40
| title7 = The Death of Jack the Ripper
| length7 = 5:20
| title8 = New Tomorrow
| length8 = 9:53
| title9 = Princess Coldheart
| length9 = 6:40
| note9 = *
| title10 = The Pleasure Palace
| length10 = 8:10
| note10 = *
| title11 = The Collector
| length11 = 5:20
| note11 = *
| title12 = C.V.A.
| length12 = 1:15
| note12 = +
| total_length = 1:08:06
}}
(*) Not included on LP and cassette editions – taken from the Princess Coldheart 12".
(+) Unreleased CD bonus track.
Personnel
- Qa'Sepel (Edward Ka-Spel) – voices, keyboards
- The Silver Man (Phil Knight) – keyboards, samples, devices, percussion
- Bob Pistoor – guitars, sitar, bass
- Niels van Hoorn – flute, saxophones, bass clarinet
- Hanz Myer – electronics, oboe, tymphanis
Additional personnel
- Hanz Myre – engineer
Notes
- The SPV edition contains different artwork than that of the other editions.
- The album title references the Velvet Revolution of Czechoslovakia in 1989.
- The Safe Way references a grocery store on the west coast of the United States.
References
{{reflist}}
{{The Legendary Pink Dots|state=autocollapse}}
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