The Residents' Dark Side

The Gingerbread Man uses a central musical theme to tell us the story of 9 characters in a more polished production than their earlier style which had been considered "harsh" by many (although I doubt that's why it's more production-oriented). Others tend to prefer their earlier works because of their imaginative and unrestrained style. The Resident's just proved, again, that's it's impossible to put them into a defining box. 

My own personal theory about The Resident's during this decade has been that they splintered into different collaborative camps. That also allowed them to incorporate various guest artists for songwriting, musical, vocal, social and performance concepts. Notice that The Residents actually play instruments now (and very well too) vs. electronic manipulation like their earlier style. Their anonymity and experimental approach would be very attractive for others that felt restrained by commercial demands and would have been a chance to return to putting creativity first. After all, that's the point of The Resident's "Theory of Obscurity" as well. I only have about half of the releases they produced during this time. I was hoping readers would offer to fill in.

"Who else but The Residents can portray the Grim Reaper as a cookie/cutout Gingerbread man, who reveals the inner tortures, fears, phobias and obsessions of 9 characters, as they slide past the prime of life into their graves. "Ginger" reveals how bitter and twisted some people can become in their eternal chase of the dreams they cannot achieve. As we hear the doomsday babble of all 9 characters, "Ginger" keeps reminding us: "Run, run, fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!" -- From an Amazon reviewer

The Residents: The Gingerbread Man

The Weaver: The Fool and the Death-Maker Die Alone

The Dying Oilman: Blinded by the Hostages of Fortune

The Confused Transsexual: Stamen and Pistillate Together Again

The Sold-Out Artist: Black are the Legs Inside the White Sepulchre

The Ascetic: Shadows Doubt the Strength of the Sun

The Old Soldier: Safety Sells, But War Always Wins

The Aging Musician: Narcissus Knows No One Naked

The Butcher: The Flesh of Animals Angers Anew ... And Moos

The Old Woman: Kissless are the Isolated, Rootless are Their Tongues

Ginger's Lament

"Arguably the most disturbing of the Residents' numerous darkly amusing albums, Wormwood consists of 18 songs (bookended by the instrumentals "In the Beginning" and "Revelation") sung by the protagonists of Old Testament tales, featuring the Israelite god Yahweh in a capricious and vengeful mood. "Bleeding is better than breathing to God," complains the daughter of Jephthah in "Burn Baby Burn," a sentiment echoed by Abraham (whom God commands to sacrifice his son to prove his faith) in "Kill Him!" Lot sleeps with his daughters, Salome gets a head, Onan spills his seed, and a mysterious disconnected finger appears in increasingly outlandish tales conveyed by means of theatrical vocals and melodramatically overwrought keyboards. Don't believe their veracity? "Look it up!" suggest the Residents, who conveniently provide chapter and verse for each and every story." --Richard Gehr (from Amazon)

From the liner notes: "to neither vilify nor sanctify the book, but to allow it to be humanized." Wormwood is another polished concept album that is accessible for mainstream tastes, except for the content that explores the darker side of the Bible. Some people hate this release because of that and others say The Residents are accurate. I have no idea. Any concept of organized religion fits into a spooky, cultural-terrorist nightmare for me. The closest I've gotten is FSM. If I hadn't found this album online, I would never have listened to it. The tunes are quite catchy and I related to many even without having a religious bias. 

The Residents: Wormwood - Curious Stories from the Bible (98)

part 1

part 2

In the Beginning

Fire Fall

They are the Meat

Melancholy Clumps

How to get a Head

Cain and Abel

Mr. Misery

Tent Peg in the Temple

God's Magic Finger

Spilling the Seed

Dinah and the Unclean Skin

Bathsheba Bathes

Bridegroom of Blood

Hanging by His Hair

The Seven Ugly Cows

Burn Baby Burn

Kill Him

I Hate Heaven

Judas Saves

Revelation

And for the fun of it, I found this early video of The Resident's private lives online. Are The Resident's ready to  reveal themselves? "Aum is Where the Art is"

The Gingerbread Man

Wormwood: In the Beginning and God's Business