Master of Disguise

Curiously, just as it had happened with their chief inspiration, , a decade earlier, by the time they released final album, , in 1989, (the band) had been dismantled and overwhelmed by the persona and singer, with only drummer surviving from the original lineup, and that's because he was 's brother! Musically, too, the subsequent next step was eerily analogous, since, much like 's triumphant solo debutant ball, , 's next dance, , was a highly stylized concept album built on surprisingly solid compositional ground, and did much to eradicate thoughts of recent blunders (in 's case it had been the disastrous ; in 's, the contrived and derivative missteps of ). In fact, was arguably the apex of 's recording career -- band or man -- unless you favor the raw, simpler charms of early efforts and . Inspired by the classic fable, the album came complete with soundtrack-like sonic effects, arrangements, and highly theatrical performances, which greatly enriched the actual songs within its core. These were themselves surprisingly eclectic, and ranged from sweeping pomp epics like the title suite and to the tough of plus a few, surprisingly moving such as the piano enhanced and the beguilingly bleak Not unlike 's similarly pretentious but entertaining opus a couple of years later, was the sort of opera that, on paper, shouldn't have worked, but somehow did -- although its ultimate commercial failure might suggest it did, in fact, fail. In any event, within the scope of 's career, the record was a more than worthy, and pleasantly unexpected, last bow before the cruel curtains of public awareness closed forever on the would-be king of '80s shock . Alas, would fare far better in the next decade. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia