This disc, an acoustic collection of the Texas- based psychedelic crazy guy's lo-fi loafs, is one of those releases that warrants The Great Experiment. I've never performed The Great Experiment for you people, and for a good reason: it's not very great. Shit, I have to capitalize it to make it sound even remotely interesting. No, I won't be swallowing this disc to see if it's any better after I poop it out-- although that really would be a Great Experiment-- but I will be running the disc's accompanying essay through the Filter of Me because sooner or later, the truth's gotta come out. Let's begin, shall we?

Excerpt from Essay: "None of [the songs on Never Say Goodbye] were recorded with a view to making them public; they're what cynical people would call 'demos,' except that they're not demonstrations. They're QED, the thing that was to be demonstrated."

The Truth: Most of these songs were recorded in a mental hospital after Erickson went the Syd Barrett route. They're being released because Roky's all-star alterna- tribute from the early '90s, Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye, tanked. While these songs may not be demos, they may not be great, either. But, hey...

Essay: "We should all be lucky as to get it right as these songs do."

Truth: Interesting statement. These songs are only "right" because they're being presented to the public as such. You can't really tell the buying public that they're wrong, can you? Then again, Wrong Songs still makes a better title than cribbing from Bon Jovi.

Essay: "Note carefully how mercifully unpretentious they are."

Truth: It's hard to strike a pose in a straitjacket.

Essay: "These depths aren't poses; they're heady, white- knuckled staring contests into the void."

Truth: You can't really stare at a void. A void is like a zero-- call it what you will, there's nothing there. Sorry to nitpick, but the purple prose is turning brown awfully fast.

Essay: "The more valiant among you may feel up to the task of 'Never Say Goodbye,' which is one of the most beautiful recordings I know of."

Truth: If you want to hear a song that sounds like every other song on the disc, it couldn't hurt to try this one.

Essay: "'I Love the Blind Man' is a more convincing argument in favor of hope than you're likely to find elsewhere."

Truth: What the hell does that mean? Is "elsewhere" limited to other songs or is this playing field wide open? I'm not a bible guy, but many folks have been uplifted by Chapter 13 of the First Letter to the Corinthians. (For the record, Erickson's song mentions God more than the aforementioned Bible passage.)

Essay: "'I Pledge Alegiance' is just plain cool."

Truth: "I Pledge Alegiance" is just the Pledge of Allegiance in forgettable song format.

Essay: "In short these are vital documents."

Truth: A birth certificate is a vital document. These are songs!

The essay was written by John Darnielle of Cola, Iowa. You might know John by his more familiar tag, "Who?" I guess he's a fan. Maybe he can sell you on this collection of "lo-fidelity field recordings," or maybe the sympathetic "all proceeds benefit the Roky Erickson Fund" sticker will slap you into guilty submission like a bell- ringing fucker from the Salvation Army, but I doubt it. The truth is that this album isn't very good. Try some of Erickson's earlier work-- solo or with the 13th Floor Elevators-- instead.

-Jason Josephes