Search - Neon Philharmonic :: Moth Confesses

Glad I found It

10/26/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I originally purchased the vinyl album in 1968, or maybe early 1969. Yes, I still have the album but it has been played so much that the needle has almost worn the grooves out. I am tempted to challenge The Who as to what was the very first "rock opera", Tommy or The Moth Confesses. If you have never truly sat down and listened to this album then you should...the typical story, i.e., boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl years later but she isn't the same...or is it that he has changed. The Neon Philharmonic, penned by Tupper Saussey, only recorded 2 albums, the other entitled "Neon Philharmonic". I wish I could find the second album in CD form (I have the vinyl, it too in poor to-bad condition. If you have ever loved, lost and found only to walk away...listen."

Great Concept/Rock Opera Album

Sam Bethune | Lincoln, Nebraska USA | 03/09/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Many people don't know this, but "The Moth Confesses" is one of the earliest "rock operas" if the term can be fairly applied to a collection of songs based on a central theme. It tells the story of falling in love for the first time and the innocence that goes with it, the eventual breakup, with the lovers eventually seeing each other later under radically different circumstances.To be sure, this 1969 album sounds somewhat dated by today's standards, but the feel that it gives the listener is unique. One of the tracks on this album, "Morning Girl", was released as a single to a less than enthusiastic response. Maybe some of you will remember it for the line "read your box of Cheerios, and powder-puff that pretty nose, and go and find your man where the wild ones grow". I thought I'd never hear this record again and am glad to be reacquainted with it."

A tiny, but true masterpiece!

Robert Cossaboon | The happy land of Walworth, NY | 03/08/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There is much about the Neon Philharmonic orchestra that will jangle your ears and maybe not make the initial creamy first impression. Don Gant's voice is kind of thin and warbly at times, but his earnestness will tip the scales favorably for you in the end; the orchestral arrangements may seem a little overblown and pompous at times, but one thing constant and present throughout that will anchor you in the humanity of each song is Saussy's piano, almost coming across as a lonely voice in all the orchestral noise. As for the album itself, it was supposed to be an opera about some guy who leaves a girl in his youth and tries to find her years later. Persevere, good listener-there is so much to be had from this fine album, however! "Brilliant Colors" is just that---a larger than life Willy Wonka-like orchestra almost literally takes your ear and you are transported to Saussy's own special memorial park of that one lost love; if you listen hard enough you can even almost hear a CCR riff for some odd reason! "Cowboy" is a neat song because of the jazzy bent. "The New Life Out There" will win you over just by the words alone (hey, America, get off your tail and find the new life out there!...); in a way this song is the mission statement for the album, as our narrator couldn't stay with his girl because he had to keep moving. Morning Girl is the big single from the album, complete with box of Cheerios reference. "Midsummer Night" has shades of MacArthur Park, but builds to a nice orchestral climax. "Little Sparrow" is the reason to buy this CD! It's as if everything that was ever gorgeous and good about the sixties was condensed into three all too short minutes. "The last time I saw Jacqueline" is a sad and winsome ode about our hero thinking back on the last time he saw his love in a café before she split; the song has a decidedly stillful mood compared to the sunshine of Sparrow. The last song in the opera cycle is "Morning Girl, Later" where our narrator presumably catches up with his lost love years later. More rushed than its earlier version, it builds to suitable vocal climax. The rest of the songs that follow are bonus tracks of various singles released by the band after Moth Confesses. "Heighdy-Ho Princess", complete with the orchestral touches, is more sardonic and less wistful than the previous songs. "Don't Know My Way Around My Soul" is a nice swing piece about the insecurities of love and commitment. "Flowers For Your Pillow" has a subtle soulful Motown lean to it. "Clouds" is the one song that doesn't work for me, because there are too many opposites: Gant's gentle voice moving into a loud moan, the twangy slide guitar competing with that orchestra, and where the heck were the clouds?? "Snow" works better, because of the imagery: snow falling into dreams, a girl falling into a far away meadow trying to hide from the sun, and falling into cookie jars!-the harp and piano reveal this song to be a nice metaphor for how things that seem like today's troubles may turn out to be tomorrow's treasures. "To Be Continued" is a great song and a great closer because it smiles and looks forwards into tomorrow-and in the end that is best that any of us can do!"