Reissued as a remastered edition in 2015, ‘In This Life’ is not merely a fascinating album of extraordinary rock-based songs. It is a landmark recording in the life of one of America’s most distinctive bands and in the international spread of Rock in Opposition-style sophisticated post-rock. Recorded in 1988-89 by Denver-based Thinking Plague, one of the most esteemed and longstanding American avant-progressive ensembles, ‘In This Life’ marked Thinking Plague’s stylistic coming-of-age. The band had recorded two earlier albums in the years since its 1982 co-founding by Mike Johnson and Bob Drake: those early works brought Thinking Plague national “underground” acclaim. But the line-up responsible for In This Life, with Mike Johnson handling composition and Susanne Lewis supplying lyrics and vocals, proved to be the early group’s ideal creative brew. It was originally released on Recommended Records (ReR), the London-based label run by Chris Cutler, founder of the Rock in Opposition movement and member of renowned band Henry Cow. One track on the album featured a guest appearance by Fred Frith, the legendary Henry Cow/Art Bears guitarist. It became ReR’s first-ever release on the then-radically-new format of CD - a format that simplified the disc’s international distribution.
Even now, all these years on from when it was originally released, this is in many ways quite a frightening and disturbing album, almost as if Art Zoyd have gone to another level and have then brought in a female singer who is totally at odds with what else is going on musically behind her. This was never meant to be an album that was easy to listen to, and with its discordant melodies and other worldliness, is one that will repel far more people than would ever listen to it. It is off key, it is controlled, it is anarchic, yet for me is also deeply compelling. It isn’t an album that I will ever play a great deal, but I find myself drawn back to it time and again. This isn’t music for a large audience on a bright sunny day, but is to be enjoyed in the night, when nothing else will suffice. RIO doesn’t get much more inventive and important as this.
