Failure (King Missile album)

Failure is the seventh studio album by avant-garde band King Missile, released on September 15, 1998 by Shimmy Disc.[1]

Failure
Studio album by King Missile
Released	September 15, 1998
Genre	Art rock alternative rock comedy rock experimental rock
Length	47:50
Label	Shimmy Disc
Producer	Bradford Reed
King Missile chronology
The Green Album (1996) Failure (1998) The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (2003)

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

Brian Flota of AllMusic awarded Failure four out of five stars, calling its music "repulsively absurd, detailed personal attacks of venomous cynicism" that "may be as strongly worded as Jonathan Swift (read A Modest Proposal) and exaggerated as Voltaire (compare Pangloss' philosophy to track one)."[2] Ink 19 commended the band's return to their Shimmy Disc and their band's individual performances.[3] While subtly clever at times, Failure provides no instant gratification such as "Detachable Penis," "Jesus Was Way Cool," and "certainly has its moments, but the musical noodling is distracting and there're only a few "must-have" tracks here."[4] Trouser Press said "the music is unassailable (Rick does his part with several hair-raising noise-fuzz-wah-guitar solos), but — with the exception of "The Dishwasher," an extraordinary multi-leveled evocation of the post-stress syndrome crime-fearing urbanites endure daily — the album draws close to self-parody."[5]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by John S. Hall; all music is composed by Bradford Reed, Charles Curtis, Sasha Forte and John S. Hall.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Failure"	4:24
2.	"The Boy Made Out of Bone China"	3:02
3.	"A Good Hard Look"	2:01
4.	"Up My Ass"	3:27
5.	"The Little Sandwich That Got a Guilt Complex Because He Was the Sole Survivor of a Horrible Bus Crash"	2:31
6.	"Despair"	6:05
7.	"Monks"	2:41
8.	"Gay/Not Gay"	6:20
9.	"Happiness"	2:23
10.	"Mr. Pomerantz"	1:50
11.	"Juniper Dog"	4:20
12.	"Tour Diary: Louisville"	1:33
13.	"The Adventures of Planky"	4:51
14.	"I Dare to Hope"	2:22

Personnel

Adapted from the Failure liner notes.[6]

King Missile

• Bradford Reed – pencilina, piano, organ, synthesizer, drums, percussion, backing vocals, engineering, photography
• Charles Curtis – cello, guitar, backing vocals
• Sasha Forte – violin, viola, bass guitar, backing vocals, production
• John S. Hall – lead vocals, backing vocals, production

Additional performers

• Jane Scarpantoni – cello, synthesizer

Production and design

• David Bias – art direction
• Mark Kramer – production
• Sasha Forte – production
• Nancy Hall – photography
• Sascha von Oertzen – assistant engineering
• Yuriko Tada – cover art, liner notes

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United States	1998	Shimmy Disc	CD	SHM-5090

References

1. Blum, Joshua; Holman, Bob; Pellington, Mark (March 30, 1996). John S. Hall. United States of Poetry. Harry N. Abrams. p. 171. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
2. Schulte, Tom. "King Missile: Failure > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
3. Wagner, Anton (December 15, 1998). "King Missile III: Failure". Ink 19. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
4. Hefflon, Scott (June 1, 1999). "King Missile III – Failure – Review". Lollipop Magazine. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
5. Gehr, Richard; Robbins, Ira. "King Missile (Dog Fly Religion)". Trouser Press. Trouser Press LLC. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
6. Failure (booklet). King Missile. New York City: Shimmy Disc. 1998.CS1 maint: others (link)

External links

• Official website
• Failure at Discogs (list of releases)
• Failure at iTunes