Emergency Third Rail Power Trip
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- Contour Studios, Los Angeles, California
- Radio Tokyo Studios, Los Angeles, California ("Saturday's Asylum" and "Kaleidoscope")
| Emergency Third Rail Power Trip | ||||
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| Released | 1983 | |||
| Recorded | February – March 1983 | |||
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| Length | 41:51 | |||
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| Rain Parade chronology | ||||
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Emergency Third Rail Power Trip is the debut album by American rock band Rain Parade, released in 1983. It is one of the most prominent records in the Paisley Underground movement of the 1980s.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [2] |
| Classic Rock | 7/10[3] |
| Mojo |  [4] |
| PopMatters | 9/10[5] |
| Q | [6] |
| Record Mirror | [7] |
| Shindig! | [8] |
| Sounds | [9] |
| Uncut | 8/10[10] |
| The Village Voice | C+[11] |
In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau felt that Rain Parade imitates "dumb" music from the psychedelic era, specifically "the wimpy singing, wispy tunes, unsure drumming, repetitive guitar effects, and naïve world view of, oh, Kaleidoscope, Morning Glory, Aum."[11] Sounds reviewer Edwin Pouncey, however, praised the "gentle and complex quality" of the band's songs and wrote that "the Parade stroke the fevered brow of Mr Fantasy to revive pop music out of its present coma with the gentle touch."[9]
AllMusic's Denise Sullivan would later state that Rain Parade was "clearly way ahead of their time," adding that "it would take years before sleepy music ... would catch on."[2] As a result, the "traditional, gentle psychedelic pop" of the record "sounds no more made in the '80s than in the '60s or '90s."[2] In his 2003 book Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock, critic Jim DeRogatis stated, "Emergency Third Rail Power Trip is not only the best album from any of the Paisley Underground bands, it ranks with the best psychedelic rock efforts from any era", with uplifting melodies offset by themes that were "dark and introspective."[12] DeRogatis added:
Songs such as "What's She Done to Your Mind," "Kaleidoscope," and "Look at Merri" showcase Piucci and the Robacks' ethereal vocals, Eddie Kalwa's precise drumming, Matt Piucci's colorful sitar, Will Glenn's violin and keyboard accents, and an intricate, chiming, but droney two-guitar attack that picks up where the Byrds left off with "Eight Miles High."[12]
Musician and critic Scott Miller, in his 2010 book Music: What Happened?, cited "1 Hour 1⁄2 Ago" as one of 1983's best songs, calling Rain Parade "core practitioners" of the Paisley Underground movement, with Emergency Third Rail Power Trip being "probably the most certifiably trippy of the branded projects."[13]