Television - Adventure

Riding high off of the critical acclaim of their first release, Marquee Moon, but already suffering from internal friction, Television submitted their second album, which proved to be much weaker and ended up being their finale. While there are some strong tunes on this, there are also many forgettable pieces that are not overcome by the band’s instrumental prowess.

Sounds like an outtake from MM, “Glory” is a good opener – with Verlaine’s melodic riffs and even a catchy chorus. But while all of the Television elements are accounted for in “Days”, it just doesn’t stand up as one of Tom’s better tunes. Following though, is one of the album highlights, the slightly dissonant “Foxhole”, with its a-rhythmic rhythm but good band interaction, memorable chorus and dark themes.

Much more light-hearted is “Careful” (previously titled “I Don’t Care”), which came out shortly after the Ramones song of the same title, which was a lot more powerful, in intent as well as execution. “Carried Away” is a quite slow, uneventful tune.

Tom got to play with a theremin and keyboards on “The Fire”, another slow, moody piece that works as a spooky horror movie theme, but isn’t as arresting as it might have been. But, “Ain’t That Nothin’” comes back strongly and this is one of the better cuts off of this album. Closing is “The Dreams Dream”, a slow piece which meanders a bit and never really seems to go anywhere for me.

Unfortunately, this sophomore record does not live up to the potential shown in their fantastic debut. Some good spots, but there is not a lot to recommend on this.