By Christopher David<\/p>\n
The current trend of artists playing albums in their entirety presents a double-edged sword for the die-hard music fan. On one hand, seeing an album live is very different than listening to an album, and often, it offers some insight into the body of work as a whole. On the other hand, sometimes certain songs aren\u2019t played live for a reason, whatever that may be, and while it may be interesting to see a particular deep cut live, it might not be worth sacrificing something else that you really<\/em> wanted to see live.<\/p>\n Then there are the rare albums that exist almost only in their entirety, at some level, the ones that are so complete as a body of work that seeing the whole thing from end to end is an experience entirely its own. Failure\u2019s Fantastic Planet<\/em> is one of those albums.<\/p>\n Currently celebrating its 20th<\/sup> anniversary, Failure arrived at Double Door in Chicago on Friday to play Fantastic Planet <\/em>in its entirety, and while they\u2019ve been liberally playing tunes from that record since their reunion in 2014, this is the first time they\u2019ve revisited it as a whole. The result? Clarifying the fact that the band\u2019s 1996 album remains one of the best and influential records of that decade, if not of all time.<\/p>\n Eschewing an opening act for a thirty minute intro film of movie clips influencing the record\u2019s lyrical themes of space and isolation (which the band has noted as being metaphorical devices for the emotional and psychological trauma of drug addiction), Ken Andrews (bass\/guitar\/vocals), Greg Edwards (bass\/guitar\/piano), and Kellii Scott (drums) brought the record\u2019s hits (\u201cStuck On You,\u201d \u201cThe Nurse Who Loved Me\u201d) as well as the deep cuts (\u201cPitiful,\u201d \u201cLeo,\u201d numerous haunting instrumental segues) to explosive life.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had no idea that anyone would be listening to this record twenty years later,\u201d Andrews mused at one point, pausing to hear himself over the jubilant capacity crowd.\u00a0\u00a0 For a trio, Failure make an unbelievably big noise, and Scott\u2019s punishing drumming style is largely to blame for the sonic attack. As one of the pioneers of the \u201890s niche movement typically referred to as \u201cspace rock\u201d \u2013 think shoegaze effects anchoring more accessible, radio-friendly rock \u2013 the subtle layering of effects on record were recreated perfectly by Edwards and Andrews, who frequently traded bass for guitar and vice-versa, with Edwards also taking to keys for certain songs.<\/p>\n And the songs alone hold up to anything in the current rock landscape. The four-chord crunch of \u201cPitiful\u201d out-Nirvana\u2019ed Nirvana even in \u201996, and the three-punch of set opener \u201cSaturday Savior,\u201d \u201cSgt. Politeness\/Segue 1\u201d and \u201cSmoking Umbrellas\u201d were punctuated by a swirling mish-mash of visual effects that filled the back wall of the Double Door stage, giving an intimate venue the feeling of a much larger venue. (Indeed, the band\u2019s stage-set on 2014\u2019s Tree of Stars tour was more effective at Metro, thanks to the bigger stage), but staging wasn\u2019t the main focus, as the hypnotic set-closer \u201cScreen Man\u201d (from 1992 debut Comfort<\/em>) proved.<\/p>\n Failure exemplify the best elements of several styles–the alt-rock guitar avalanche of the 1990s, the spacey-intellectualism and lyrical nuance of Pink Floyd, the stark, playful electronic jabs that Andrews\u2019 has continued to experiment with in his solo and other projects\u2014and in doing so, have found a distinct sound that allows for both a recognizable structure as well as the ability to push the sonic landscape they\u2019ve dominated for four records. Most bands would be lucky to release a record with twenty-year appeal at any level, and the fact that Failure are able to make Fantastic Planet<\/em> sound as fresh as it sounded when it came out speaks to the strength of their collective vision, and one can\u2019t help but think it bodes well for the band\u2019s long-term future.<\/p>\n