FadingSoul

I thought they deserved their own thread. I must have 15 or 17 cds of them. Not many people know about them, but that is good in a way.

codefree

I have their Dulcinea, Acoustic Dance Party, In Light Syrup, and Coil CDs. They're pretty good. I've been meaning to replace my old cassette of Fear too. I still think Walk On The Ocean is their best track.

tofu

15 or 17??!!! how many albums did they make? i only have 4 (fear, dulcinea, in light syrup, coil). i thought they only had 5 or 6 albums.

FadingSoul

Yeah they only had 5 or 6 albums but I have a Coil Promo cd plus the coil cd itself and many import singles, a rare live cd, some radio only cd's just stuff like that.

Toad

I love them -- they're my favorite band. I almost was able to go to the taping of (most of) Acoustic Dance Party here at 99X in Atlanta. I wasn't able to, but I did go to their last show here in late 1997. Hung out with the band -- Glen and I chatted. Got some drumsticks and a songlist ... etc.

I would buy every Toad album ever (actually I don't even have Bread and Circus -- any good??). And I'd be interested to know how to get some of your fun stuff!!

By the way -- I get my username from the band.

FadingSoul

Bread and Circus is definately worth getting! The only chance you have to get a hold of the rare stuff is to search ebay every so often. One of their rare cd's cost me 45 bucks, but it was worth it!

ActionFan

I too love Toad the Wet Sprocket. They have been my favorite band since I first heard them about 8 years ago. (I know, they were introduced to me rather late.)

I never got to see them in concert, so I was really dissapointed when I learned they had broken up. I guess with the band members getting on in age, it was probably for the best. I got Glen's solo project Abulum, which was pretty good, but it's not Toad.

I have collected 6 of their CD's through the years:

Pale
Fear
Dulcinea
In Light Syrup
Coil
P.S.

I also never got "Bread & Circus." To my knowledge, all of their other CD's were either singles or slightly different collections. (P.S. is also a collection.)

I think I have every song Toad ever made, though perhaps not every version. I have way too many favorite songs, but I'd have to say that the Dulcinea CD has slightly more of my favorite songs than any of the other CD's.

Anyway, that's a bit of a ramble, but I'm just glad to know there are other avid Toad fans out there as well.

- Brad

Toad

The best song from the acoustic set at 99X that didn't make it onto "Acoustic Dance Party" was the acoustic of "Crowing" -- probably one of my top 3 favorites by them.

I need to get Glen's solo effort, and also Bread and Circus.

vu_quy

I thought they broke up! I remember the last time I saw them was at a college concert at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri! They were decent in concert.

I would not call them my favorite band and I can only say I liked "All I want" and "Walk on the ocean" as my favorite tracks...sooo Fear was a good album...a must buy in my opinion.

Spiderbite

I have good memories of them.

Listening to Fear always makes me feel like I did that summer between my freshman & sophomore in college. I truly love that album. I also love Dulcinea since I was working in a music store at the time & we played the hell out of it. I saw them when the toured with Rusted Root for that album.

In Light Syrup has some good odds & ends on it & Coil is vastly underrated. Now they are broken up which does make me a little sad.

My wife and I went to see Glen Phillips this past summer when he was doing an acoustic tour for his new cd Abulum. It is okay but is definitely missing something. He was great in concert doing some of the old tunes by himself with an acoustic guitar.

Excuse me while I go cry for my lost youth...

ActionFan

Just a question out of curiousity, what does "Dulcinea" mean? The closest I can get in English is dulcet meaning "sweet or melodious." Anybody know?

- Brad

Toad

I believe it's an allusion to the character in Don Quixote, though I could be mistaken.

Toad

Just picked up ABULUM a few weeks ago. It took me awhile to get into it, but it has some great songs on it.

I can't help but think about what he sings about through most of it: drive-by-shooting of a dog, "playing" with himself, women surrounding him, men leaving pregnant girlfriends, women meeting the wrong men, some store called Fred Meyers (where the tag buildings, slash tires, skateboard, loot, etc.).

Some WEIRD themes that I would pay money to ask him about.

anglagard

I guess no one's talking about the early '80s British metal band Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Rypro 525

which ever version of toad the wet sprocket Im talking about, i think that song that sounds like the beach boys sux.

Toad

No sir. Wrong band. They sound nothing like the Beach Boys.

Toad

I wonder what the legalities behind THAT are. The American Toad the wet Sprocket (based on a line from one of the Monty Python movies) is from California. They are a 'rock' band from the late 1980's.

Rypro 525

listen to all i want by ttws and compare it to that "aruba, jamaca, come on pretty ____, here in the kokamo" song by the beach boys.

Toad

I have listened to "All I Want" about 500 times and "Kokomo" about 500 times, and I've never noticed it in my life.

Perhaps YOU should listen to them again.

Seriously, the lyrics and lyricists are obviously very dissimilar. The rhyme/verse structure is not similar. And "Kokomo" has steal drums.

anglagard

Toad,
I was just goofing a little. There actually was a late '70s-early '80s British metal band called Toad the Wet Sprocket. I was working in a record store when "Bread and Circus" came out. I thought, my God, that obscure British band got an American record deal. But looking at the album, I realized this was a different band. I checked it out and really liked it. I've been a fan since. I guess my favorite album is a tie between "Pale" and "Fear". I saw them live on the "Fear" tour at Mountain Stage. Really good show.

BTW, the other Toad isn't too bad, either. Straight ahead heavy boogie rock, kinda like AC/DC.

Toad

that seriously is pretty funny -- I wonder if there any legal issues with it though...

Gdrlv

I don't think "All I Want" sounds anything like "Kokomo". In fact, the general tone of the two songs couldn't be any more different.

writteninstars

I *love* Toad the Wet Sprocket. Always have. I just have all the regular cds that were released plus a video collection. I also have Glen Phillips' Abulum and I love it so much. I think my favorite song on that cd is "It Takes Time", but they are all excellent. I do have the Abulum DVD and that has a lot of commentary about each of the songs plus live performances of several songs. I also got to see him (in Nashville) last summer when he was touring. He is so friendly. He drew me a picture of his cat and said "Here Crystal. This is my cat." I was verklempt Seriously, even though the band is not together anymore, Glen is still out there writing amazing songs and working with great people. I can't wait for his next cd!

Toad

I would love to hear any interesting bits you may remember from the commentary section on some of the songs, especially "Drive By" (which is really weird) or "Maya" (which is really great).

Thanks for posting that - I had NO idea there was an ABULUM dvd out!!

writteninstars

Hey, Toad! Just for you, I went back and listened to some of the commentary again I remembered what he had said about "Drive By", but for the life of me, I couldn't remember about "Maya". Anyway, here goes:

"Drive By":

This was actually his friend's story, and he encouraged his friend to write a song about it, but when the friend wouldn't, Glen took it upon himself. The friend's story is basically that when he was 15 (w/ only a learner's permit) living in NC, his dad woke him up one morning to drive him to shoot the neighbor's dog b/c his dad thought it was a nuisance. Glen largely fictionalized the song icluding the part about the dog living so that it would have some redemptive quality.

"Maya":

He calls it a "waltzy, dreamy piece of music" "very Toad-like". "Sonically, it didn't fit in anywhere else on the album", so they put it at the end. He also says it is "murky, enveloping".

On the technical side of it, they used an omnichord to get that sound "a cheap, organ-y analog" sound.

The lyrics were about sexuality and desire. How the veil of the physical leads you into desire. The illusion that physical things are important. He generally doesn't do songs of a sexual nature...not because he is prudish, but b/c it is so intensely personal and he doesn't want to demean it or be cliche about it.

I also wanted to add that he feels "Professional Victim" is the most Toad-like song on the album. When he was writing the guitar parts, he had a very "What would Todd (Toad's guitarist) do?" attitude.

I love hearing him talk about his music. For that alone, I would recommend the DVD, but it is chockful of live performances too.

Anyway, I hope this helped you out