Fortunately, I eventually got used to the singing and even developed a strange semi-fondness for some of it. More importantly, with the vocals no longer serving as an irritating distraction, I found myself able to focus on all the positives the album has to offer, and it offers plenty. "See No Evil" sets the tone for the album from the get-go: Lloyd lays down a simple riff, Verlaine lays some lovely semi-atmospheric guitar on top, the verses culminate in a rousing way, and Lloyd gets in some GREAT soloing in the breaks. "Venus" is my longstanding second favorite of the album, featuring Lloyd and Verlaine merging their parts into some beautiful harmonies, and goofy lyrics about ending up with the arms of Venus of De Milo. Plus, it has the single funniest part of the album, when the various vocalists say, "Huh??!!" in that goofy way. "Friction" has Verlaine's guitar parts getting loopier than anywhere else on the album, but the song has a fascinating cycle of ideas that would have made it a good enough song even without them. The song has an angry edge to it that's quite unlike the rest of the album, and all of Verlaine's frantic clatter manages to accentuate that edge all the more.

The big classic of the album, of course, is the 10:40 (!!) title track. The song has some intriguing lyrics, though I don't pay them or the singing much mind (though I do have to say that the "I ain't waiting, uh uh" part about 4:25 in is one of the coolest vocal deliveries I can imagine), but the singing, as elsewhere on the album, isn't where the greatness lies. The basslines are underrated in this song, I think, and Billy Ficca's drum groove is marvelous (it's all the more interesting that apparently he thought this take was just a rehearsal), but it's the cycling of guitar ideas in the main part of the song, and especially the never-ending build of tension as the lengthy guitar passage takes over the second half, that pushes this into immortality. By the time Richard and Tom are hitting that part with the ascending chords at the 8:15 mark or so, culminating into that glorious burst of guitar atmospherics, I'm ready to buy into every hyperbolic piece of praise ever uttered for the band.

The second half is also good, but a bit of a letdown for me. My guess is that I just start to get tired of the style, and when there isn't anything to make me feel like the songs are clearly better than those in the first half (which would be really hard to do), this will hurt. One thing that does somewhat stand out as a bit of change is that the band is a little slower, more downbeat and more atmospheric on this side than on the last one, but I somewhat find myself treating these songs as being like the first half, only played at 70% speed. Still, they're quite nice. "Elevation" has an interesting combination of paranoid and melancholy vibes, and the breaks are as emotionally charged as most of those in the title track. "Guiding Light" actually breaks the mold fairly strongly, and sounds like it belongs better on Adventure; there are bits of piano used for texture, and it's a rather pretty ballad (if you can accept a ballad sung by Tom Verlaine). "Prove it" keeps sounding to me like Television trying to do its own version of "Stand by Me," and it's a bit of a throwaway, but I basically like it. And finally, "Torn Curtain" tries a little too hard to pull at emotional heartstrings (the "tears, tears" backing vocals still sound ridiculous to me), but the instrumental parts are enough to make it rather moving (I do rather like the downward "weeping" guitar lines here and there), and I'd even say that it doesn't seem overlong to me (at 7 minutes). I do find myself wondering how an album closing with a song like this ever got the "best punk album ever" label from everybody, but whatever.

So yes, it's a great album, full of good (often great) songs, emotional heft and innovative approaches to making rock music. It could never become one of my very very favorites (it defnitely seems more like an "ordinary" great album than one I'd put into any sort of top ten list), but it's definitely one I've developed a great fondness for. If you like punk rock but somehow haven't heard this, you need to hear this so you can hear just how far the definition of the term can be stretched. If you like rock music in general, it may be a tough nut to crack, but if you focus on the great guitar work you will absolutely crack it. If the vocals don't drive you batty, of course.

The opening "Glory" is just such a happy upbeat piece of pop that I can't help but let it put me in a good mood for the rest. Verlaine gets some small bits where gets to do his regular guitar thing, but the song would do just fine without them; the greatness of the track lies in the main guitar melody, Verlaine's vocal part (I can't help it, I giggle every time at, "You said, blah blah blah") and the low-key but anthemic chorus. I can definitely see where it would make a major fan of MM scream "Sellouts!!!" but I don't really care.

The later "Foxhole" (which has a strangely conventional hard rock riff, though it's quite good so I don't care) and maybe the pounding "Ain't That Nothing" probably could have fit on MM well with a minimum of reworking, but the rest of the album is much more in the vein of "Glory" than of anything there. Songs like "Days," "Careful" and "Carried Away" might not have the least bit of excitement about them, and they're not quite great, but they're nice, and they each have a great sing-along feel to them. "The Fire" is slow and atmospheric as hell (with a fascinating synth line at the beginning), and while I don't love this one either, I do find myself digging the low-key guitar parts a lot. And finally, "The Dream's Dream" strikes me as about as good of an album closer as was "Torn Curtain" on MM: maybe it's lagging a little bit in cathartic guitar parts, but it doesn't have the silly "tears, tears" part, and it's not lacking that much in guitar.

Yes, there's nothing the least bit revolutionary or striking about this album, but it doesn't have a single song I don't enjoy, and while I may be more likely to listen to individual tracks from MM than ones from here (I sure do love "Venus" and "Marquee Moon" a lot), I'm far more likely to find myself in the mood to listen to Adventure straight through than Marquee Moon. I understand why the album largely flopped, and Television's ensuing dissolution really wasn't that much of a surprise, but my hope is that Adventure finds its rightful place in history. It's definitely worth a couple of listens for anybody.

The two covers are a lot of fun, too. With a lot of bands, covering "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and "Satisfaction" may be a sign of a lack of creativity, but Television really makes these tracks its own. "Knockin'" predictably has long instrumental breaks between the verses (including a long introduction before the first words are heard), and Tom's parts have enough emotional weight to justify the song choice. And "Satisfaction" makes a great choice for a closer (coming out of "Marquee Moon"), with everything you would want from a Television version of it.

Mediocre sound quality or no, this is an essential album for fans of the band. It's always a blessing for a band to have a live album which captures them in their prime, and I would even argue that this album better explains the intense appeal Television had for a select few than even Marquee Moon did.

The album gets off to a really good start with the first two tracks. The opening "1880 or So" may prominently feature Tom's still fascinating guitar approach (his solo in the middle may never take off into heights of old, but the bits that we get are still some top-notch minimalism), but the main appeal of the song clearly lies with Lloyd's simple and lovely main guitar line, as well as a really memorable vocal part (though Tom's voice is pretty worn). "Shane, She Wrote This" has some GREAT emotionally painful guitar lines propelling it forward: I could listen to Tom's descending lick weaving in and out of Lloyd's base all day, and there's another fantastic brief solo in the middle.

The rest doesn't quite reach these heights, and there's actually a fairly noticable dip near the end, but I basically like the other tracks fine (though "The Rocket" and "This Tune" definitely strike me as a little dumb). If I had to pick out other tracks especially worth mentioning (because why would I namecheck all of the tracks on a freaking Television reunion album), I'd mention "Call Mr. Lee" (which actually had a little radio success, though I'm not entirely sure why: I like the frantic guitar lines, anyway), "Rhyme" (I'd definitely prefer a version without vocals, since the guitars almost make this into an Eno-quality ambient-like track, which is completely inexplicable from a band like Television), the fun rockabilly of "Beauty Trip" and the slow neurotic closer "Mars." So sue me, I enjoy the crap out of Tom's "That cop, that cop is from Mars!" (the way it's written here is nowhere near a decent approximation of how he says it) exclamations, and there's enough interesting atmosphere in the song otherwise to make it enjoyable even without that part (which admittedly could make it seem gimmicky).

I have to admit that I'm not especially sure who would want this album. People who don't know the band might find it weird and offputting, and people who know Marquee Moon well would probably go, "Arrrgh, this doesn't sound like Marquee Moon either." But you know, there are much, much worse things than an album with a few pretty great tracks and a few good ones, and while it's not worth rushing to pick it up, it's worth hearing. If nothing else, you really need to hear the first two tracks (and probably "Rhyme").