Until now this record would have cost you $60. Man, it's got to be brilliant at that price, hasn't it? $60 sure could buy you a good pile of superb import techno 12"s or go most of the way to securing you that Captain Beefheart boxed set. But why bother when you could get your mitts on a single disc by a Seattle prog/ trance/ art- dance band?

Until the Grinders Cease, Sky Cries Mary's 1989 debut album, was limited to 4,000 copies when first released and, contrary to sense, has become quite the thing to have in Seattle prog/ trance/ art-dance circles, say insiders. Baffles me as to why, though.

The album displays none of the characteristics that have guaranteed Seattle's place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (moral: be careful what you wish for, you just might end up in Cleveland) nor any hints of Sky Cries Mary's later, dream- layered, psychedelic, ambient drone rock. Because Until the Grinders Cease is so removed from any significant musical achievement, I really have to question the wisdom of reissuing this record. I mean, don't think I'm against the idea of reissues. Lord, no! Every generation should be exposed to Miles Davis' Bitches' Brew and Alexander Spence's Oar. We all should have the opportunity to react to such masterworks.

But Until the Grinders Cease just doesn't warrant re-release. Over nine chokingly similar tracks, a heavily- Mogodon'd drum machine thumps out a beat every four seconds while Roderick (for he has no surname, apparently) gruffly warns that "death is an opening," among other enlightening lyrical gems which token his avant garde theatre background. Former Posies Ken Stringfellow and John Auer even gave up their regular gigs to assist Roderick in churning out this labored noise experiment, which likely sounded dated even back in '89.

If hardcore devotees are mad keen to get their hands on this material (and the word is that, under extreme duress, die hards will shamefully admit that this album is a tad disappointing), they can link into the legally suspect network of MP3s, bootlegs, and fans' traded tapes while simultaneously contributing to a sense of identity and tribal loyalty. So, why would the label want to bum the fans out by making the rare trophy item available to everyone? It's not as though the band are ever going to storm the charts (certainly not with this turgid album, anyway).

Sky Cries Mary were once signed to Warner Brothers; they lasted a brief spell, before differences between the band and the bean counters severed the alliance. The band has had their bite of the big pie and they spat it out. Obscurity came knocking again and Roderick and his pals welcomed it inside. So why the reissue? The immediate assumption would be, "for the money." But I conclude that out of good conscience, World Domination wants to save you from shelling out $60 for an album that's scarcely worth three.

-Paul Cooper