Gnosis Ratings

Reviews:

Sjef Oellers 17-Jan-2001 Death May Be Your Santa Claus

I find it hard to get a grip on Death May Be Your Santa Claus, but it is certainly an original piece of work. The album starts like a fairly bombastic symphonic rock opera sounding like a mix of the finale of Zappa's 200 Motels, Ciclos by Los Canarios and the movie soundtrack Hair. A bizarre beginning, although an over-the-top, uncompromising atmosphere pervades the whole album. The album listens like an avant-garde symphonic rock album with a nice dose of psychedelica mixed in. I can hear fragments that are somewhat similar to Moody Blues, early Mothers of Invention, Beatles from the Sgt. Pepper era and the Vanilla Fudge. A pleasant feature on the album is the frequent use of a rather psychedelic sounding organ. The second half of the album has several, extended, spacey organ washes that remind me of the Italian band Paese di Balocchi, but other parts are almost a forerunner to the Residents. A few, eerie passages recall the German horror movie soundtracks from the 30's. A strange, but interesting album.

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Sjef Oellers	17-Jan-2001	Death May Be Your Santa Claus
I find it hard to get a grip on Death May Be Your Santa Claus, but it is certainly an original piece of work. The album starts like a fairly bombastic symphonic rock opera sounding like a mix of the finale of Zappa's 200 Motels, Ciclos by Los Canarios and the movie soundtrack Hair. A bizarre beginning, although an over-the-top, uncompromising atmosphere pervades the whole album. The album listens like an avant-garde symphonic rock album with a nice dose of psychedelica mixed in. I can hear fragments that are somewhat similar to Moody Blues, early Mothers of Invention, Beatles from the Sgt. Pepper era and the Vanilla Fudge. A pleasant feature on the album is the frequent use of a rather psychedelic sounding organ. The second half of the album has several, extended, spacey organ washes that remind me of the Italian band Paese di Balocchi, but other parts are almost a forerunner to the Residents. A few, eerie passages recall the German horror movie soundtracks from the 30's. A strange, but interesting album.
Links for further information