Virtue Triumphs When the Devil Sleeps By Judy Schaechter
Listen to VIRTUE TRIUMPHS
LOST AND FOUND!
While digitizing hundreds of old cassettes, I have been able to reconstruct my long lost, unfinished album: Virtue Triumphs. Started soon after the 1990 release of Upon My Wicked Son, this collection was ultimately caught in the cross-fire of a corporate war and never finished. Until now, these tracks have been sitting in storage .
I am very happy to finally bring them to light.
About the Collection:1990-1992
Virtue Triumphs was my first body of work that was not beholden to Wall of Voodoo. Crawling out from the wreckage of a tumultuous decade, the record begins with the grim side-show recitative I've included here . It proposes that human beings are ethical only when chance gives them no other options.
"Oh sweet Salvation, we avoid temptation
When temptation avoids us!"
As I said, for me , the eighties were tumultuous...
Though the album does not follow a direct narrative, the song's characters wade through themes like obsession, belligerence, guilt, and addiction. Eventually remorse and empathy come into play, leading to a search for grace and renewal.
Well, that was the plan, at any rate.
When the fucking corporate axe fell this work was caught under the blade and left behind. I was devastated for years. So much for fucking grace and renewal.* These cassettes with their rough mixes and sketches were all that remained. Where the master tapes are today , I have no idea.
1995's Sins of Our Fathers included a few of these songs but on Virtue Triumphs you will hear the original versions , done when they were new, unexplored, and in some cases, unfinished.
There are also quite a few songs included that have never been released ...
Musical Personae
Twenty seven years later , I am still moved by the performances of the musicians on Virtue Triumphs. Frank Zappa's bassist , Scott Thunes , is astonishing on songs like Love Won't Be Here Tonight, Tell Me River and You Got to Go Up. Singer Cassie Webb creates an incredible one woman choir on When The Heart Awakes . Together, Scott and Cassie construct an eerie , beautiful background on Honey, Don't Be Good to Me, which started life as an old Eye Protection song from 1978.
Also, appearances by Grammy winning songwriter and producer Jeff Trott and Zappa Alumnus , guitar and keyboard master Mike Keneally .
At Present:
I am very busy writing up the lyrics sheets and doing the art work. I aim to have this ready for release by early November.
I am thrilled to be able to share it with you soon.
(*See 'Who Do You Think We're Coming For" on Sins of our Fathers)