Rose Chronicles
Country of origin:
Canada
Type of music generally:
Ethereal alternative rock
Status:
The band broke up not long after the release of Happily Ever After in 1996. Vocalist Kristy Thirsk now records as a solo artist.
See also:
Wikipedia's entry on Rose ChroniclesA Rose Chronicles MySpace page
The Ectophiles' Guide entry for vocalist Kristy Thirsk
Comparisons:
A much more rocking heavy-guitar Cocteau Twins. Or Sarah McLachlan doing crunchy alternative rock
Covers/own material:
Own material
General comments:
A crunchy 4AD-like band fronted by the amazing ethereal voice of Kristy Thirsk. Some people seem to think Kristy sounds like Sarah McLachlan (who I'm a fan of), but I really can't hear it. Her voice is truly stunning though, and the fact that Kristy is backed by some very talented musicians makes Rose Chronicles one of my favorite bands. (mcurry@io.com)I found two of their discs: an EP-like thing called Dead and Gone to Heaven, and a full-length-type thing called Shiver. They are both excellent and highly recommended to all ectopeople. It is forceful, alternative, sproingy, flowing and pointy music. Imagine if Bettie Serveert were a little less conventional and more lyrical and less regimented. Anyways, this is hard and pretty, rockin' stuff. (mjmjminla@yahoo.com)
Shimmery is exactly the best way to describe rose chronicles. your mileage may vary, but i can confidentially say that rose chronicles rock my world. (woj@smoe.org)
I find all three albums to be wonderful in their own ways, but, yes, mainly because of Kristy's beautiful singing. (ljk1@cec.wustl.edu)
the band never did much for me; in my opinion the only good thing about them was Kristy Thirsk's incredible voice. all the rest was so much indistinguishable fuzz guitar, to me anyway. (damon)
I confess that when I first listened to them I thought they sounded like Sarah McLachlan with a bunch of noise behind her voice. After repeated listens forced upon me by the co-owner of my stereo, though, I began to be able to hear the songs and the individuality of Kristy Thirsk's voice—and to appreciate the noise of the songs. Now that I'm used to it, the guitar doesn't even sound particularly heavy to me anymore. I do think there are a bit too much in the way of hiccup-y vocals on their final release, though. But Dead and Gone to Heaven and Shiver are wonderful albums. Who knows, maybe the new one will grow on me given time, too. I am sorry to hear about the break up of the band. (Neile)
Great music for a rainy day. (afries@zip.com.au)
Recommended first album:
Dead And Gone To Heaven
Recordings:
- Dead And Gone To Heaven (ep, 1993)
- Shiver (1994)
- Happily Ever After (1996)
Dead And Gone To Heaven EP
Release info:
1993—Nettwerk—W2-6318
Availability:
Fairly good
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended for those whose tastes run toward the crunchier side of the ecto spectrum.
Group members:
Kristy Thirsk—voice and words
Richard Maranda—guitars
Judd Cochrane—bass
Steve van der Woerd—drums
Guest artists:
Peggy Lee—cello
Anthony Cecil—didgeridoo
Produced by:
Mark Jowlett and Rose Chronicles
Comments:
This first EP from Rose Chronicles features some of their finest work. It's a good starting place for those who are new to the band's music, and a must have for anyone who likes either of their full-length albums. (mcurry@io.com)After getting the album and absolutely loving it to death, I had to get their first EP. And I wasn't disappointed. This is my favorite new band of the year. (pmcohen@voicenet.com)
Shiver
Release info:
1994—Nettwerk—W2-30084
Availability:
Fairly good
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended for those whose tastes run toward the crunchier side of the ecto spectrum.
Group members:
Kristy Thirsk—voice and words
Richard Maranda—guitars
Judd Cochrane—bass
Steve van der Woerd—drums and percussion
Guest artists:
Peggy Lee—cello
Greg Reely—shakers
Produced by:
Mark Jowlett and Rose Chronicles
Comments:
This full-length effort from Rose Chronicles is, in my opinion, not quite a strong as the EP that preceded it. While there are some great new tracks on here, like "Dwelling" and "Glide (Free Above)," there are also some songs that are merely good. Despite this, Shiver is still one of my very favorite albums, and it spends lots of time in my cd player. (mcurry@io.com)I thought the clarity of the instrumentation was excellent. yes, it's "fuzzy," but i can hear how where the fuzziness begins and ends and how it was done. despite the "wall of sound" effects, i thought shiver is a remarkably clear album. also kristy tends to stretch her voice a lot more on this record—and i mean that physically. sometimes, she downright sounds like lene lovich with the way she jumps from octave to octave, squealing all the way. (woj@smoe.org)
I was never fully captivated by Rose Chronicles, either. It wasn't the fuzz guitar sound, but the haphazard arrangements and depressing lyrics that left Shiver untouched in my CD rack after maybe half a dozen spins. However, I did revisit the album recently and was pleasantly surprised. There are some good songs on it ("Glide", especially), and, of course, one stellar voice. (maeldun@i-2000.com)
i'd been curious about rose chronicles for some time before finally hearing shiver. i was quite captivated by at least one song, that seemed to me a wonderfully majestic orchestration, and of course, by Kristy Thirsk's voice. so i ran out and bought it the next chance i got...and couldn't find even the one song that'd so caught my attention. was *i* ever disillusioned. :P i found the album didn't do much at all for me overall, aside from the voice. i brought it out later on, though, and was more impressed than i had been, though still not enough to graduate it to the regular playlist. still, i think i finally identified the song that'd hooked me as the first, "dwelling". (damon)
I love this album. (onealien@mo.himolde.no)
Happily Ever After
Release info:
1996—Nettwerk—30108
Availability:
Good
Ecto priority:
Once again, highly recommended for those whose tastes run toward the crunchier side of the ecto spectrum.
Group members:
Kristy Thirsk—voice and words
Richard Maranda—guitars
Judd Cochrane—bass
Steve van der Woerd—drums and percussion
Produced by:
Kevin Hamilton, Vincent Jones, and Rose Chronicles
Comments:
This latest cd took a while to grow on me. On first listen I guess I was disappointed that it wasn't more like Shiver, but since then I've grown to like it quite a bit. The only problem is that it's too long (70+ minutes), and I think that the album would have been much stronger if they had cut a few of the weaker tracks. It's still a very good effort, but a bit of editing would have made it even better. (mcurry@io.com)The new Rose Chronicles cd is (to me on preliminary listenings) very similar to The Blue Up? I think that it definitely sounds different from Shiver and has less of a ethereal/Cocteau Twinsy sound to it, and is more rocking and brash, perhaps. (paul2k@aol.com)
Another great set from a great band! I feel like it's been a long time waiting for this and it was worth it! Their new rhythm section rocks, Kristy's voice is as ethereal as ever, the songcraft is superb. (cjmacs@micronet.net)
Why did I wait so long to get this album? My verdict? Wow. Amazing. The irresistible comparison is to the Cocteau Twins, but crunchier, and the lead singer's voice is just amazing. Getting their other albums is at the top of my priorities list. (cinnamon@one.net)
Further info:
There is a mailing list dedicated to Rose Chronicles, Vicious Thorn. To subscribe send email to majordomo@smoe.org with a message of "subscribe vicious-thorn".
Thanks to Michael Curry for work on this entry.
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