Classic album review: Television Marquee Moon Grade: A

The year 1977 saw two polar musical forces vying for supremacy in the public consciousness. Punk rock and disco were both in the spotlight, and both were, to a certain degree, guilty, aesthetic pleasures for different social mind-sets. Television was one of the very first acts to elevate punk to the level of art, while disco remained purely confectionery, and Marquee Moon is its finest outing. \nIt's a seminal record from a band who quite literally built the main stage at the CBGB. Front man Tom Verlaine, looking strung out to some mathematical level on the album's cover, injects every track with a jagged vocal style that marries perfectly with he and fellow guitarist Richard Lloyd's dual attack. Fred Smith (bass) and Billy Ficca (drums) anchor it all with a sometimes subtle, often heavy bottom. \nLyrically, you won't find any "hey, ho, let's go" moments on the disc. Whether it's falling into the arms of "Venus de Milo" or espousing such philosophical nuggets as "a word's just a feeling you undertook," Television would inspire the likes of The Clash's "London Calling" and many other bands' introspective post-punk ventures to match the intensity of their music with the sincerity of their lyrics. \nMarquee Moon plays best as a full album, but anyone looking to distill the Television experience into one track need look no further than this album's title cut. Ten minutes of build-up and release guitar and vocal acrobatics, it's one of the defining moments of the entire punk era in America. Verlaine and Lloyd trade blazing solos, as they do throughout the rest of the album, until it's difficult to tell one from the other. It's because of this unity that Television was able to rise above the fray of the loud, frantic punk scene of 1977 New York.