Television Album: “Adventure”

I had originally picked up Marquee Moon and couldn't stop listening to it. My thirst for more Television music brought me to Adventure which seems to be black or white to most fans.

Love it, or hate it. Not much middle ground here.

I was disappointed upon first listen because its not MM part II. The production is different. The guitars on MM are more in-your-face but on Adventure they are more refined, brought into the mix more. It took me a little while to digest. I kept spinning it and started to really get into it.

On Adventure the songs that really struck a cord with me were the softer entries "Days, Careful, Carried Away." The passion that pushes MM to such great heights is here in a song like "The Fire." The epic song is again presented in "The Dream's Dream." "Glory" is an infectious feel good pop song and "Ain't that Nothin'" is a hook laden gem with a really satisfying guitar riff coming out of the solo.

Another thing to consider when listening to this record is where MM had the benefit of having the songs fully fleshed out live before the album was recorded, Adventure was made up of mostly brand new, untested material. Some of which was written in the studio.

I would put Adventure on even footing with Marquee Moon. If you really loved MM and are interested in checking this out, give it more than a few spins in your CD player. Some of the best and most enduring music doesn't hit you the first time you hear it but grows on you over time.

Between the release of Television's acclaimed 1977 debut, Marquee Moon and the recording of their second album, 1978's Adventure, the New York punk rock scene, which they helped to found, had branched into a full-fledged movement. Bands on both sides of the Atlantic were taking pride in their youthful angst, limiting their music to three chords and calling for the fall of corporate pop culture and pretentious dinosaur bands. Television never intended to be part of a movement, though and the sharp contrast between their clean-cut, electric cohesion and the speedy, jagged-edged sound of many of their contemporaries exemplified that. New York's punk rock circuit was merely a way for the band to expose their uncorporate-ized, unique sound and Adventure stays true to that mission, ignoring the day's punk rock hoopla and featuring another set of distinct, finely tweaked songs. They did their fare share of the bouncy rock and roll ("Glory," "Careful" "Ain't That Nothin?") that was common to their peergroup, but Television also showed that young, hip rockbands were still interested in quiet reflection with "The Dream's Dream" and the achingly beautiful "Days," and that were they dispassionate about musicianship. The finely unified electric streams that are Television's arrangements are breathtaking. Listen to the multi-layered guitar drama of "The Fire" or the shimmering beauty of "Carried Away" for examples. It would be a shame if Television's flawless cohesion, astonishing for a band who have only played together for three years, were to be lost in an attempt to fit in with the nihilistic, musical ruggedness that punk rock strongly promoted. Hey, revolution is great, but so is the time-honored tradition of unique, substancial, finely-crafted rock music. Thank, you, Television for some of the finest of the day.

Tom Verlaine's guitar has a unique voice. Either you love it - or you don't - Typically, big fans of groups like Styx, Toto, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Boston, Kansas and The Doobies... might not appreciate Verlaine's voicing and style. It's just off the radar enough to miss major classic rock radio play... you are more likely to hear Verlaine on a college radio station.

Adventure is my favorite Television album -Marquee Moon may be better - but I just like "The Fire" too much to knock this one down. The soloing is brilliant and the mood of the songs are laced with anticiaption that fully delivers.

I would especially recommend this album to a guitarist who is searching for a unique and brilliant sound.

If you do not like this music, it is strongly recommended that you buy a buick, grow a horrible mustache and start selling Amway products.

. . . but an honest one. I got MARQUEE MOON back in the late 80s and went crazy over it. It's truly one of the greatest guitar albums ever and still trips me out to this day. I had heard ADVENTURE was good too, but when I finally picked it up I was sorely disillusioned. True, making an album after MARQUEE MOON must have been a daunting challenge, but ADVENTURE doesn't turn me on much. It really lacks the power and excitment and strangeness of their enduring masterpiece. ADVENTURE reaches none of the majestic heights found on MARQUEE MOON. I simply see no reason to ever listen to ADVENTURE when I can just put on MARQUEE MOON again.

If you're craving more Television and just about worn out your MM copy, I'd much sooner get THE BLOW-UP, especially for their sprawling live version of "Little Johnny Jewel." Incidently, the MM re-release with that original single added on is well worth getting. Their '92 comeback album is sadly unimpressive as well. Sorry die-hards, it's my honest opinion.

Punk was a genre cultivated on the principles of do it yourself sloppiness that under ideal conditions could breed a sound free of all commercial aloofness and flowing with unbridled passion. Unfortunately, while this harsh anti-commercial mentality did result in a number of the century's greatest musical acts (ie: The MC5, The Stooges, The Velvet Underground), it also virtually ignored a huge back catalogue of talented musicians simply because their motives didn't fit the strict punk criteria. The most disappointing example of this was by far the blatant anti-Beatles stance assumed by most of punk music in reaction to the band's ... perfectionist leanings. Thankfully though, when the initial shock factor of the late 60s punk coup began to fade in importance, this limiting facade gave way to reveal a number of brilliant pop acts that had been quietly maturing on the stage of CBGBs. Among these influential artists were the likes of the ultra quirky Talking Heads and the brutally under-recognized Television, freely referencing defunct pop geniuses like The Beatles and the Beach Boys to create a distinctive blend of 60s melodies and modern punk aggression.

In their short lived career, the original Television incarnation generated only two albums. Marquee Moon was perhaps the quintessential Television record, displaying an instrumental prowess and sonic complexity that was sorely lacking in punk music at the time, but it was not until the heavily underrated Adventure that Tom Verlaine's impressive songwriting skills truly came to full fruition. Moving from an instrumental focus that emphasized the integration of free jazz aspects into more traditional rock arrangements to a format that was much more along the lines of a true rock band, Television was determined to make the most of their role change. What Adventure lacked in technical complexity it more than made up for with sheer charm, massaging the listener's mind with concise, soothing soundscapes that had been thoroughly dowsed in catchy hooks. Instead of intertwining in extended, combative solos, the trademark twin guitars reach a mutual coexistence that provides a solid backdrop for Verlaine's evocative chorus lines. As opposed to the constantly clashing dynamics of Television's prior CD, which stressed the many facets and multiple areas of expertise within the group's sound, Adventure features all elements of the band in perfect harmony formulating the perfect pop unit. Adventure is pop simplicity at its best, immediately drawing the listener in with irresistible guitar licks and memorable choruses only to later reveal even more intriguing underpinning as a reward for the patient listener. This important album, which was an obvious touchstone for groups like The Bears or XTC, marked a point in punk music that finally made it ok to meld the old with the new, creating a chain of events in the independent music community that can still be felt today. Whether Marquee Moon or Adventure is the single greatest achievement from the genius pop conduit of Television is solely a matter of personal opinion, but while Marquee Moon is already recognized as a monumentally important album of the 70s punk upheaval, Adventure should certainly at least be regarded as being of equal significance and as being an overall equally enjoyable album.