June 8, 1999 - Triptych

It's a triple release day! On the same day as my last two releases and just under two years since "Transmission", The Tea Party released their fifth album "Triptych" on June 8, 1999. After their industrial previous album The Tea Party go in a much more melodic direction on this newest album, while still having a bit of the electronic stuff from "Transmission". Let's listen to some new Tea Party!

The album kicks off with "Touch" and it's got a pretty cool main riff with Stuart Chatwood playing some nice bass and Jeff Martin with some similarly interesting guitar. Martin's voice sounds as epic as always as he leads a nice verse that matches the mood perfectly. The chorus is loud and epic as well and even though they don't really stray from the verse/chorus, things never drag and spind pretty good the whole way through. A solid album opener! Up next is "Underground" and Martin leads the way with a slow but interesting guitar riff and he sings in a low voice that sounds pretty epic. As things move along Martin returns to his normal epic voice, and then even does a verse in a yell/half-scream and that sounds really great! Chatwood ends things on an interesting piano note as well and even though the pace was slow I liked this one. Track 3 is "Great Big Lie" and Chatwood plays some pretty cool bass, Jeff Burroughs adds a nice drum beat and Martin sings a solid verse before adding some interesting guitar that all combines for a pretty interesting main riff. Martin does the chorus in his yelling voice and it's a pretty epic chorus if I do say so. Words don't do proper justice to all the strange noises they use on this song but there's lots of cool percussion, bass, keyboards and guitar, all used in unique ways. This is my favourite so far but everything has been good. The next track is "Heaven Coming Down" and it was not only the big hit single, but it was also The Tea Party's first #1 radio hit! Chatwood plays some light keyboards to set the stage as Martin comes in with the light lead guitar riff and Burroughs completes the riff with some solid drums. Martin sings a bit of a sappy verse, but he still sound like his usual epic self and that goes for the chorus as well. It's easy to see why this was so popular with it's light, almost pop-y feel and even though in my opinion it's a lesser Tea Party song, they still do it well and I'll still sing along every time. Track 5 is "The Halcyon Days" and Martin plays some Middle-Eastern sounding guitar that sounds pretty cool and he sings a nice verse to match the mood as well. Chatwood plays some interesting keyboards that complement the guitar well and it's a pretty cool main riff. Martin hits some high notes in the chorus showing that he he can hit both ends of the spectrum and he sounds good doing that too. It's little long at six minutes but it's a solid song for sure. Up next is the other big hit single off this album, a Daniel Lanois cover of "The Messenger". Martin plays acoustic guitar and it's a simple and catchy enough main riff that's light and breezy and Martin sings in a more emotional sounding voice: the makings of another surefire hit. Martin's high "oh no" in the chorus is quite high and not usually what I want him doing but I guess they need to sell some albums with another pretty pop-y single. Track 7 is "Samsara" and it has some more interesting, middle-eastern sounding instruments and Burroughs plays a nice drum beat as well. Martin sings a nice verse to match the mood and there's some nice faster guitar after the second chorus that sounds pretty cool. They predictably finish things off and this was another interesting Tea Party tune with lots of world influences that make for some unique rock music. Up next is "A Slight Attack" and it has a nice upbeat main riff with some more solid drums by Burroughs. Chatwood plays some piano in the chorus that sounds great and so does Martin's voice, even more so than usual. There's a cool "solo" with some cool guitar and drums and then Martin yells a great final verse as well and this was definitely another pretty cool song. Track 9 is "Taking Me Away" and Chatwood leads the way with some solid piano that drives this song slowly but surely. Martin sings an epic verse to match the mood and along with some strings things sound lightly, pretty good. It's a little on the sappy side but they do a pretty good job at it still, maybe just a little too long. The next track is "These Living Arms" and Martin plays some light and trippy guitar and Chatwood and Burroughs play a pretty good rhythm section to keep things going. Martin's singing sounds epic as usual and this song was unsurprisingly the album's third single as things are pretty easy going. All of the singles have been good for what they are, lighter, pop-ier songs, but of course I like them less than the faster, heavier ones. Track 11 is "Chimera" and Chatwood plays some more cool piano to lead the way as Martin sings a nice verse along with it. Burroughs eventually comes in with a nice drum beat and they segue nicely into a heavier chorus with some nice guitar by Martin. The nice guitar continues as Martin plays a short but pretty good guitar solo that fits the mood nicely. This was a pretty good song! The final track on the album is "Gone" and Martin leads the way on acoustic guitar and he's quickly joined by some interesting orchestral music that sounds pretty cool. I love the low strings (cello maybe?) and Martin's epic voice sounds great in this setting. This is a really unique and well done song and it's a great way to wrap things up I think.

That is the end of "Triptych" and I thought it was another solid album by the Canadian trio. There is a lot more lighter and accessible music on this album compared to their industrial previous album but they did the singles really well and the other songs were all pretty good as well. I don't think it's good as "Splendor Solis" and so this is their worst effort for me, but it's really still a good album, it just says more about how good their other three albums I have are. Where will The Tea Party go from here?  I'll be hear to find out!