A question for more weather-worn Eskimos

[Moves-My-World]

Well you don't have to be extremely old to the site but when I joined, just after the release of 9, I was quite a newbie to old Damo. So for the people that have been here for quite a bit was the release of 9 anything special? i.e. The songs contained on it, were they new to you? Like I know of Elephant/ Blowers Daughter II being around a while and we all have recordings of unreleased songs. When you bought the album was there any songs you hadn't heard before?

Just about spat out what I was trying to say haha

[Joseph]

I'm not what you'd call a "weather-worn" Eskimo, but I do remember reading a post, which stated that one negative attribute of "9" was that there were no new songs.

[GOB1029]

Dogs, Animals were Gone, Sleep Don't Weep, Accidental Babies, Coconut skins

those were the songs I hadn't heard before. All the rest had been played live before the album.

[Nine]

The only two I hadn't heard were Animals and Sleep Don't Weep. Coconut Skins, Accidental Babies I heard him play in August, and I had a recording of Dogs before it had a name - and people knew it as 'The Girl That Does Yoga'.

[Calum]

I'd only got into downloading bootlegs and rare songs of Damien's a few months before the release of 9, but have been a fan since 2003. So i only had heard Elephant, 9 crimes and rootless tree before (appropriately named "**** you" by the person who uploaded it!).

[Spamlet]

I believe that most of us weren't so much upset by the fact that there was only one song which no one had heard yet ("Sleep, Don't Weep" which some dismissed right away as a clone of "Cold Water" but the band told me it was actually a very old tune they just hadn't recorded before. "Animals" had been played and reported about in the Fiona tour a few times but no one knew it's title and if it was recorded live, it never leaked until immediately before or right after the album came out. Even the bonus track which we were calling "Wanted to be Wanted" we'd had bootlegs of). We were more disappointed by the fact that pretty much every other song was so powerful and raw in the live version of it that they paled on record for having been too precisely rendered. He never really abandons himself fully on "9" like he had so frequently onstage. True, the album versions grew hugely on a lot of us and yet I'm pretty sure that sentiment still holds for the majority of the old guard.

If we could turn back time, ma Cher-ie, I think we'd probably wish DR had recorded the record with a lot more of his famous passionate intensity and spontanaiety than such careful restraint.

[Cali]

Originally Posted by Moves-My-World

So for the people that have been here for quite a bit was the release of 9 anything special? i.e.

hell yes damo never anounced when the second albums was gonna be released so there was a lot of expectation, a lots of posts as well. the release of 9 was like xmas if we celebrated xmas every 5 years--ok, not quite but it was a big deal

Originally Posted by Moves-My-World

The songs contained on it, were they new to you?

i think the newer/less-known songs were coconut skins, sleep don't weep and animals were gone, but damo played them a few times so they weren't really new when 9 came out. there are quite a few posts about them too.
the rest of the songs were already favorites like elephant, which for years we/he called the blowere's daughter part ii. other songs on 9 were really old like me, my yoke and i or 9 crimes.

but i don't think the no-surprise factor was damo's fault, i'm sure that for most damien fans, the songs on 9 were new. but some of us are compulsive collectors that have to have every show and every version of every song. and everytime he plays a new song, some people here kind make a big deal. i personally wasn't disappointed about the lack of new songs, the only thing that disappointed me was that fool wasn't on the album

[Bumpman]

Speaking of which, there's not very many weather-worn Eskimo's around anymore, back in the days before there was even an eskimofriends.com and we had the forum under freecfm.com all the regular people were different.

[Tommy]

Originally Posted by Nine

The only two I hadn't heard were Animals and Sleep Don't Weep. Coconut Skins, Accidental Babies I heard him play in August, and I had a recording of Dogs before it had a name - and people knew it as 'The Girl That Does Yoga'.

Same same, and I dislike both of those songs.

[bryce5.23.88]

'9' was posted in it's entirety on a site for preview a few days before it was released. so the actual release day of the album wasn't the first time i'd heard it. but after waiting 5 years, i went to the store the morning that it came out and bought my copy.

being in southern california, i was able to celebrate the release of 9 with an amazingly intimate concert at the El Rey the night before it came out.

i think that was the best show i've ever seen.

[gomezxico]

Originally Posted by Spamlet

I believe that most of us weren't so much upset by the fact that there was only one song which no one had heard yet ("Sleep, Don't Weep" which some dismissed right away as a clone of "Cold Water" but the band told me it was actually a very old tune they just hadn't recorded before. "Animals" had been played and reported about in the Fiona tour a few times but no one knew it's title and if it was recorded live, it never leaked until immediately before or right after the album came out. Even the bonus track which we were calling "Wanted to be Wanted" we'd had bootlegs of). We were more disappointed by the fact that pretty much every other song was so powerful and raw in the live version of it that they paled on record for having been too precisely rendered. He never really abandons himself fully on "9" like he had so frequently onstage. True, the album versions grew hugely on a lot of us and yet I'm pretty sure that sentiment still holds for the majority of the old guard.

If we could turn back time, ma Cher-ie, I think we'd probably wish DR had recorded the record with a lot more of his famous passionate intensity and spontanaiety than such careful restraint.

all that said and for the most part agreed with, i was extremely happy with the album version of 'cocunut skins', maybe it was because the 2 versions i had were of really bad quality, but i really really like the album one '9 crimes' however, had to grow on me. i just really wasn't liking the division of the vocal sections, compared to some of the live versions.

i love the album today, though

[coreyb]

i think the most agonizing element to the release of 9 was how long it took to come out... we didn't know when it was gonna happen, and then when they announced a tentative date we got our hopes up and it took like another year or so for it to finally be released... the second most agonizing element to the album is that it lacks the certain intimacy and emotional intensity that O really pulled off... 9 had to grow on me.... O hit me like a ton of bricks from the first listen...

[Moves-My-World]

Too early to start thinking about a 3rd album which will include such corkers like "What the night is for?"

[LaurenM]

hmmm I listen to Accidental Babies 1/10 of the times that I used to. Same with Elephant. I listen to a lot of Me, My Yoke & I, Grey Room, and Animals, all of which took a while to grow on me.