Ghost of hope

"The Residents have always had a fondness for concept albums from The Third Reich'n' Roll to Wormwood: Curious Stories From The Bible. The Ghost Of Hope is their latest, based upon tales of train wrecks from the 19th and early 20th century. Not something that most bands would contemplate but a clever concept allowing The Residents to combine their mastery of music and lyrical narrative on seven, sometimes lengthy tracks ... This is probably their best record in years - so jump on board".

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"The Residents are still weird and they still exist on the extreme ends of the left side of the dial. Their latest is a concept album about train wrecksMusically, the album sounds like the Residents. That means that the synths are dark sounding, the vocals are a little distorted, and the instruments sound somehow in-tune and out-of-tune simultaneously. ... All progression leaves tragedy in its wake. The Residents may have a weird way of saying it, but when they chant, "The Ghost of Hope says 'no'", we get it-everything good has a dark underside. Who better than such a weird, theatric band to help us understand this?".

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"The production is decidedly modern, for the most part, and it's clear that they're continuing on despite the departure of one of their main creators (they're already working on a new tour/stage show unrelated to The Ghost of Hope). While longtime fans may sense the absence of Bobuck in certain spots, it's a Residents album through and through, with all the atmosphere and Residential perspective one could ask for".

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