John Cale – The Academy in Peril (Remastered 2024) (1972/2024) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

John Cale – The Academy in Peril (Remastered 2024) (1972/2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 50:22 minutes | 980 MB | Genre: Art Rock, Neo-Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Domino Recording Co

John Cale was never very kind to his solo debut, Vintage Violence. When it was released in early 1970, Cale had been out of The Velvet Underground for less than two years. He wanted to prove he could be the songwriter, the person penning the words and melodies behind which a band could work. “I was masked on Vintage Violence,” he wrote much later. “You’re not really seeing the personality.” Indeed, Cale’s personality as a polyglot seemingly interested in everything emerged more and more on his next two solo albums, his only two for Reprise: 1972’s bracing and exploratory classical sojourn, The Academy in Peril, and 1973’s masterclass in anxious but accessible songcraft, Paris 1919. By reissuing both records in tandem, Domino—Cale’s home now for a dozen years—affirms the artistic fearlessness Cale then fostered at the edge of 30, when all of music seemed like one inviting playpen. This artist-sanctioned reissue of The Academy In Peril is remastered from the original tapes.Even in a career filled with sharp stylistic shifts and avant-garde artfulness, John Cale’s 1972 album The Academy in Peril stands out. Cale’s first two post-Velvet Underground albums (1970’s Vintage Violence and 1971’s Church of Anthrax) showcased his experimental side, blending rock, classical, and minimalism in fresh, new ways, but the sheer unconventionality of The Academy in Peril is truly striking. The album is largely an instrumental exploration, demonstrating Cale’s range as a composer, arranger, and musician while reflecting his growing interest in dissonance, modernist classical music, and abstract soundscapes. Sure, vocals do show up occasionally—like, say, the disembodied voice giving stage directions on “Legs Larry at Television Centre”—and yes, there are some numbers here like “Days of Steam” that seem like they might be shaping up to be a regular pop song, toying with a simple rhythm and a straightforward melodic structure, but even it leans into dissonance thanks to Cale’s treated viola and the disorienting interplay between brass instruments and a … calliope. The Academy in Peril is, in other words, an exercise in expectation-smashing. The title track immediately sets the tone with a haunting and minimalistic piano motif that lets you know this won’t be more Vintage Violence, and, instead would be aiming to make good on the largely failed avant-garde intents of his Terry Riley collaboration Church of Anthrax by formalizing both the compositional approach and the performances. Cale exploded the budget for this record, enlisting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to play on some tracks and spending months finalizing the material in the studio. Thus, whether it’s the highly orchestrated “3 Orchestral Pieces: a) Faust b) The Balance c) Capt. Morgans Lament”—essentially a wordless modern opera—or the meditative, piano-based “The Philospher”—which is as dynamic and dramatic as it is emotionally intense—The Academy in Peril evokes a distinctly modernist approach. Cale draws from the forward-looking sensibility of composers like Webern and Stravinsky, embracing abstraction and unpredictability in the compositions but also a warm, personal element in the performances (the bonus track “Temper” on this new edition is a stunning solo piano piece that perfectly represents that emotional approach). This blending of innovation and emotion makes this largely spare album feel both deeply intimate and archly intellectual, a combination that Cale has always expertly evoked, but never quite so daringly as on Academy. – Jason Ferguson

Tracklist:

1-01. John Cale – The Philosopher (Remastered 2024) (04:32)
1-02. John Cale – Brahms (Remastered 2024) (06:27)
1-03. John Cale – Legs Larry At Television Centre (Remastered 2024) (03:39)
1-04. John Cale – The Academy In Peril (Remastered 2024) (06:56)
1-05. John Cale – Intro (Remastered 2024) (00:58)
1-06. John Cale – Days Of Steam (Remastered 2024) (02:02)
1-07. John Cale – 3 Orchestral Pieces: a) Faust b) The Balance c) Capt. Morgans Lament (Remastered 2024) (08:36)
1-08. John Cale – King Harry (Remastered 2024) (04:11)
1-09. John Cale – John Milton (Remastered 2024) (08:00)
1-10. John Cale – Temper (Bonus Track) (04:57)

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