- Nuke The Whales
- Why I LUV Women
- "Long Live Père Ubu!"
- Lady From Shanghai
- Carnival Of Souls
Pere Ubu
Nuke The Whales 2006-2014
Released April 1 2022.Fire Records FIRELP639, 4 lp box set
Release Notes
These albums were remixed by David Thomas in 2021 and mastered by Brian Pyle, except 'Carnival Of Souls' which was reconfigured and then remastered by Brian Pyle. Some songs were shortened or omitted because of the time limitations imposed by the vinyl format.Bonus items in the box are a Carnival Of Souls tour poster for the legendary (nonexistent) Club Wow and a postcard with download codes for the MP3 and WAV files of the songs.
Somewhere in the region of 1971 - 1973, in Cleveland, 'Nuke The Whales' was a slogan painted onto billboards promoting TV news teams by the 'art terrorist' crew known as Fred & Ethel Mertz. The other slogan they used was 'Question Authority.' They added Ghoulardi sunglasses and goatee beards to the faces.'Tear Your Eyes Out,' 'Alienating The Audience' and 'Snowy Livonia, Part 1' were added to 'Long Live Père Ubu!.' 'Snowy Livonia, Part 2' was omitted. 'My Boyfriend's Back' was omitted from 'Why I LUV Women,' which was originally released as 'Why I Hate Women.' 'Moonstruck' and 'Throb Array' were added to 'Carnival Of Souls' and the series of short 'Strychnine' interludes were omitted.
Everybody warned me about the title to 'Why I Hate Women.' I loaded up the clues. ‘Only an ignoramus is gonna miss the point,’ I thought to myself. Radio stations throughout America threw the album in the trash. Robert Wheeler responded to one, ‘Didn’t you notice it's all love songs?’ I learned my lesson. Never over-estimate the intelligence of the Media Priests.
Press Reaction
Heather Phares, AllMusicNuke the Whales 2006-2014 collects Pere Ubu's output from this nearly decade-long span, which found them looking to literature, drama, and film for inspiration and delivering works that lived up to their reputation for subversion. On 2006's Why I LUV Women (which was renamed for this collection), David Thomas and company presented love songs that framed their one-of-a-kind surrealism in the literary tradition of Jim Thompson's gritty crime fiction... Thomas described Long Live Père Ubu! as the first truly punk album in 30 years, and he's not far off -- even within the band's discography, it's a jolting, potent listening experience like few others... Nuke the Whales 2006-2014 does justice to the music they were making at the time, and the darkly captivating tales on these albums are well worth revisiting.
Editor's Pick. Spill Magazine
David Thomas and company never failed to impress, intrigue, and amaze their listeners and fans. Again, the albums are not for everybody, but for those who enjoy their own brand of avant-garde rock, this is a fantastic set to add to your collection.
