Length 22:38 Release date 18 November 1997 | Artist The Desert Sessions Label Man's Ruin Records | |
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Released November 18, 1997 (1997-11-18) Recorded August 5–12, 1997 at Rancho De La Luna, Joshua Tree, California Volume 1 Instrumental Driving Music for Felons
(1997) Volume 2 Status Ships Commander Butchered
(1998) Genres Stoner rock, Experimental rock, Desert rock | ||
Volume 1: Instrumental Driving Music for Felons is the debut extended play (EP) by American desert rock collective The Desert Sessions. Recorded in August 1997 at Rancho De La Luna, it was released by Man's Ruin Records on November 18, 1997. The album features eight credited musicians, including Josh Homme, John McBain and Ben Shepherd. It was later re-released with Volume 2: Status: Ships Commander Butchered in 1998 as Volumes 1 & 2.
Contents
Recording and release
The first two Desert Sessions EPs were recorded in sessions between August 5 and 12, 1997 at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California, a studio founded by Fred Drake and Dave Catching. The tracks on Volume 1 were engineered by Drake, with Catching and Tony Mason assisting, and featured a total of eight credited musicians: Josh Homme, John McBain (both guitars and keyboards), Ben Shepherd (bass), Alfredo Hernández, Brant Bjork (both drums), The Reverend Bruno Ponce Jones (vocals), Drake (guitars, drums, keyboards) and Catching (bass, piano, guitar). Homme mixed the album, and it was mastered by Tom Baker at Future Disc in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
Volume 1 was initially released alone on vinyl by Man's Ruin Records on November 18, 1997. It later received a re-release with its follow-up, Volume 2: Status: Ships Commander Butchered, on CD on February 24, 1998 as Volumes 1 & 2.
Critical reception
Music website AllMusic awarded Volume 1: Instrumental Driving Music for Felons three out of five stars. In a four-star review of Volumes 1 & 2 for the website, Tom Schulte said the following about the albums: "Propelled by a steady rhythm section, guitars or keyboards creep in to contribute mostly spectral wails decaying with tremolo or reverb. The picture you get is very much that of a desert, a wasteland divided by a stark streak of asphalt." He summarised the album as a "soundtrack for a running reckless in a land where the only visible things are the dash panel, the headlights, and the stars".
Track listing
All songs written and composed by "Acquitted Felons".
Personnel
Personnel credits adapted from album liner notes.
Songs
1Girl Boy Tom4:26
2Monkey in the Middle2:47
3Cowards Way Out5:36