Search - Tales from the Edge :: Vol. 5-6-Tales from the Edge

Great music from Dallas 1994

Chris Nemec | Irving, TX United States | 02/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like other TFTE CDs, this was released in early 1994 in Dallas, Texas. Vol. 5 opens up with Big Big Drama's "It Happened." BBD was touted as the next Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians before they broke up. Tabula Rasa's "Blue Revolution" will be right up the alley of Camper Van Beethoven fans. "Thunderbird" by Whitey is another funkadelic entry in the series. Long-time Dallas Reggae artist Jimi Watusi adds his tune "What you See" on this one. The CD ends up with two very haunting tunes, former Fever in the Funkhouse frontman Nick Brisco's "Crumbling Man" which opens up with a sample from an old movie serial. Meredith L. Miller's "I'm Alive" is the more haunting of the two, being a sparce acoustic song. It has only Ms. Miller's vocals and an acoustic guitar in the background.
Vol. 6 was a collection of punk/new wave tunes that date from 1977-1982. Dallas' first punk band, the Nervebreakers, is here. It's best noted for two acts: Joe "King" Carrasco, who did the song "Party Christmas" for MTV in 1983, and The Doo, whose lead singer, Dan Piaro, went on to create the comic strip Bizarro.
Overall, the CD is among the best of the TFTE series, and really deserves a look, if you can find it. Sadly, other volumes aren't available. TFTE 4 has an alternate version of Tripping Daisy's "Lost and Found." TD eventually morphed into Polyphonic Spree. TFTE 4 also has the song "Venus" By Big Car, a band whose members would later form Fastball, who had a hit in 1998 with "The way." TFTE 11 probably would be the most sought after, as there are alternate versions of "Angry Girl" by Funland and "Victoria" by the Old 97's."