| Black Ribbons | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 2, 2010 | |||
| Recorded | 2009 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 71:33 | |||
| Label | Black Country Rock | |||
| Producer | Dave Cobb | |||
| Shooter Jennings chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Black Ribbons | ||||
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Black Ribbons is the fourth studio album by American musicianShooter Jennings. Released on March 2, 2010, the album marked a departure from Jennings's establishedSouthern rock sound. It is adystopianconcept album androck opera presented as the final free radio broadcast of a fictionaldisc jockey namedWill 'o the Wisp (voiced by writerStephen King), who, in defiance, plays the music of the fictionalhard rock band Hierophant, whose music has been banned from airplay, on the evening before his radio station is to be taken over by the government to be used to air propaganda.
The music ofBlack Ribbons is a departure from Jennings's establishedSouthern rock sound.[2] The album has been classified ashard rock or heavy rock,[3][4][5][6][7]industrial rock,[5]psychedelic metal,[8]progressive metal,[2]progressive rock[7] andstoner rock.[5] Cited influences on the album's sound includePink Floyd andRage Against the Machine.[9]Stephen Thomas Erlewine compared the album to aNine Inch Nails retelling ofRoger Waters'concept albumRadio K.A.O.S.[2] The website Bloody Disgusting said of the album's style, "Musically,Black Ribbons is a mind-blowing opus that completely obliterates genre distinctions. On this unprecedented work, twangingdobros coexist withNintendochipsets; brutally assaultive passages alternate with moments of unabashed tenderness, and surrealFloydian soundscapes float above smoking slabs of whiskey-soakedsouthern soul. It's an electrifying thrill ride across a dense, dark and gloriously decadent musical landscape."[10]
Black Ribbons is aconcept album[11] androck opera[12] set in adystopian near future, presented as a broadcast by fictional disc jockey "Will 'o the Wisp", during his last night on the air before the U.S. Government takes control of the airwaves. He has vowed to play the one band the American government does not want him to play, Hierophant. According to Shooter Jennings, "I had this fictional band, and it was like wearing a mask of some sort. I was able to create this thing where I could be anything."[13] Jennings said thatconspiracy theoristDavid Icke was one of the inspirations for the album.[13]
According to Jennings, "The whole album is kind of this big concept record about truth, and about the importance of love and two people connecting. It's masqueraded as this kind of futuristic story that goes on with this guy. As a whole, I believe it is something that is a really cool piece of art."[14] Jennings toldBillboard, "I've always been drawn to the darker side of things. When I was doing this record, I was reading a lot on everything, from past civilizations to governmentconspiracies toUFOs to the brief history of time to books on the occult. I was soaking up this darkcounterculture of the world. We're in a very grim time. So I needed to paint the grim picture to let the colors of the positive message of the record shine."[15]
Jennings toldThe Washington Post, "I think the whole thing is a metaphor for how hard it's been to get my voice heard. Whether it's a success or not, at the end of the day I know that I didn't play by anyone's expectations. This is the anti-expectations album."[16]
In February 2009, it was announced that writerStephen King would play a major role in the album. According to theAssociated Press, "King is the voice of Will O' The Wisp, a radio talk-show host being phased out by government censorship. He spends his last hour on the air delivering a diatribe about the decline of America, and playing the music from a radical band, Hierophant."[17][18]
Jennings also said King rewrote portions of the narration, saying "He took what I'd done, doctored it and made it his own. He threw in some awesome lines. That made me feel vindicated for any frustration I'd felt. It told me I really was on the right path."[19]
King said, "It's a tremendously spooky idea. He sent me a draft, and it was just about perfect. I altered a few things and expanded some of it, but he knew exactly what he wanted. . . . To me, it was brilliant, the way the talk and the music weave in and out."[20]
King is a fan of Jennings and even mentioned him in his novelLisey's Story.[21]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [2] |
| PopMatters | [22] |
| No Depression | (no rating)[23] |
The album was released on March 2, 2010 onvinyl record,compact disc and as adigital download.[24] In 2011, the album was reissued in an abridged "Bullet Version" which removed Stephen King's narration.[25] The first single, "Wake Up", was released on December 22, 2009.[1] To promote the album, Jennings was interviewed on conspiracy theoristAlex Jones'InfoWars program.[4] The album sold less than Jennings's previous albums, which had been selling progressively worse with each release.[4] However, one of the album's fans wasMarilyn Manson, which led to the musician meeting Jennings in 2013 throughTwiggy Ramirez, and later to Jennings collaborating with Marilyn Manson on a 2016 cover ofDavid Bowie's song "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" for Jennings's albumCountach (For Giorgio), and Jennings producing Marilyn Manson's eleventh studio album,We Are Chaos, in 2020.[26]
In 2016, a deluxe edition ofBlack Ribbons was released ahead ofthat year's presidential election, with Jennings tellingRolling Stone, "We’re pretty close to [the album's storyline] now. With the shootings of cops and of black people and theTrump versus theClinton camps, we are very divided. And that's the way they like us. Divide and conquer, man. And one day the final executive order is going to be, 'Well, you people can't handle being around each other, so we're going to have to step in and set rules.' That's whatBlack Ribbons is about."[11]
AlthoughStephen Thomas Erlewine describedBlack Ribbons as being "more exhausting than challenging" in his review forAllMusic, he said that "it's hard not to marvel at Jennings confidence [sic] in hisFrankensteinmetal-prog".[2] Writing forPopMatters, Stephen Haag wrote that "Jennings seems, sadly, to have confused quantity with quality, and effort with execution.Black Ribbons is a mess."[22] Writing forNo Depression, Adam Sheets describedBlack Ribbons as being "just as muchcountry asTaylor Swift orRascall Flatts are and if given the choice I would much rather hear this on the radio", and said thatBlack Ribbons "may be the best concept album sinceSouthern Rock Opera".[23]
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S.Billboard 200 | 133 |
| U.S.Billboard Top Independent Albums | 16 |
| U.S.Billboard Top Rock Albums | 34 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | performer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wake Up!" | Shooter Jennings | 6:01 | |
| 2. | "Last Light Radio 11:01 pm" | Stephen King | 2:30 | |
| 3. | "Triskaidekaphobia" | Shooter Jennings | 3:10 | |
| 4. | "Don't Feed the Animals" | Dave Cobb, Shooter Jennings | 3:27 | |
| 5. | "The Breaking Point" | Shooter Jennings | 5:45 | |
| 6. | "Last Light Radio 11:16 pm" | Stephen King | 1:31 | |
| 7. | "Everything Else is Illusion" | Shooter Jennings, Matt Whyte | 3:35 | |
| 8. | "God Bless Alabama" | Matt Reasor | 3:31 | |
| 9. | "All of This Could Have Been Yours" | Shooter Jennings | 4:46 | |
| 10. | "Last Light Radio 11:29 pm" | Stephen King | 1:11 | |
| 11. | "Fuck You (I'm Famous)" | Shooter Jennings | 1:43 | |
| 12. | "Lights in the Sky" | Shooter Jennings | 5:11 | |
| 13. | "Black Ribbons" | Shooter Jennings | 4:21 | |
| 14. | "Last Light Radio 11:41 pm" | Stephen King | 1:34 | |
| 15. | "Summer of Rage" | Shooter Jennings | 5:39 | |
| 16. | "California via Tennessee" | Ike Reilly | 3:19 | |
| 17. | "The Illuminated" | Shooter Jennings | 4:54 | |
| 18. | "Last Light Radio 11:57 pm" | Stephen King | 1:08 | |
| 19. | "When the Radio Goes Dead" | Ted Russell Kamp | 5:07 | |
| 20. | "All of This Could Have Been Yours (reprise)" | Shooter Jennings | Stephen King | 3:10 |
| Total length: | 71:33 | |||
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
