Pinball Mars

Pinball Mars
Studio album by
Circus Devils
Released2003
GenreExperimental rock, alternative rock, psychedelic rock
LabelRockathon Records / Fading Captain Series
ProducerTodd Tobias
Circus Devils chronology
The Harold Pig Memorial
(2002) 		Pinball Mars
(2003) 		Five
(2005)
2003 album by Circus Devils
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Erasing Clouds[2]

Pinball Mars is the third studio album from Ohio alternative rock band Circus Devils. The album, written as a mini-rock opera, was released in 2004. All songs were written and performed by Robert Pollard, Todd Tobias and Tim Tobias.

Reception

On behalf of Erasing Clouds, David Heaton wrote,

Somewhere between the caustic noise of 2001's Ringworm Interiors and the more reined-in, sensitive concept album The Harold Pig Memorial (2002), Pinball Mars often sounds like arena rock anthems after they've been processed by two different mechanisms: one looking to make them into death-metal hymns to Satan, the other trying to discover what would happen if classic rock and free jazz had a baby.[2]

AllMusic's Bart Bealmear added,

The soundtrack is one of blood-curdling fancy merry-go-round rides. One wants off, but can't because of what awaits. It's as if an illicit IV has been administered during REM sleep, drawing the listener closer to the protagonists, and further into their shady world. The theme of good and evil has always been the Circus Devils' focus, but here the concept feels different, more human.[1]

Track listing

  1. "Are You Out With Me"
  2. "Gargoyle City"
  3. "Pinball Mars"
  4. "Sick Color"
  5. "Don't Be Late"
  6. "Inkster and King"
  7. "A Puritan for Storage"
  8. "Alien"
  9. "Plasma"
  10. "Dragging the Medicine"
  11. "Bow Before Your Champion"
  12. "Glass Boots"
  13. "(No) Hell for Humor"
  14. "Raw Reaction"

References

  1. ^ a b Bealmear, Bart. "Pinball Mars". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2023-06-14. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  2. ^ a b Heaton, David. "Circus Devils, Pinball Mars (Fading Captain Series)". Erasing Clouds. Archived from the original on 2022-06-27. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Guided by Voices
Studio albums
EPsLive albums
  • Live from Austin, TX (2007)
Compilation albums
  • The Best of Guided by Voices: Human Amusements at Hourly Rates (2003)
  • Crickets: Best of the Fading Captain Series 1999–2007 (2007)
  • Scalping the Guru (2022)
Box sets
  • Box (1995)
  • Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft (2000)
  • Hardcore UFOs: Revelations, Epiphanies and Fast Food in the Western Hemisphere (2003)
  • Suitcase 2: American Superdream Wow (2005)
  • Suitcase 3: Up We Go Now (2009)
  • Suitcase 4: Captain Kangaroo Won the War (2015)
Robert Pollard
solo albumsTobin Sprout albumsAirport 5 albumsBoston Spaceships albumsLifeguards and
Doug Gillard albumsRobert Pollard side projects
Circus Devils albums