El Cielo
Encyclopedia
El Cielo is the second album from the American progressive
/alternative rock
rock band, dredg
. It was released on October 8, 2002 on Interscope Records. Like dredg's first album, Leitmotif
, El Cielo is a concept album
. The title can be translated to mean "the sky" or "the heaven" in Spanish
, and to mean "peace and freedom of expression" in dreams.
entitled Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bumblebee around a Pomegranate One Second Before Awakening, which is also what the acronym in the first song on the album, "Brushstroke: dcbtfoabaaposba", stands for. The painting clearly influences many of the album's core themes and song titles. For example, in the painting there is a long-legged elephant ("An Elephant In The Delta Waves") with a papal insignia upon its back. "The Papal Insignia" was a song recorded for El Cielo but only saw release of Industry Demos, recorded in 2001, and didn't make it onto El Cielo. Also pictured in the painting is a woman lying in a canyon: "The Canyon Behind Her" is the title of the last song on the album.
This is further supported by the translation of the Japanese spoken words from the beginning of "The Canyon Behind Her": "This album was inspired by a painting titled 'Dream Caused By the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate One Second Before Awakening'. It is recommended that you view this painting as you listen to El Cielo. It is as if one stimulus awakens other senses. In other words, it's about 'drawing music'".
Band members have also been quoted as saying that this Dali painting symbolizes sleep paralysis
, a literal representation of the condition from which Dali's wife actually suffered. The booklet with El Cielo contains letters written by sufferers of sleeping disorders with descriptions of various experiences with or relating to sleep paralysis. Singer/Songwriter Gavin Hayes incorporates and expands upon the material found in the booklet for the lyrics to the album. All of the songs on the album (except the instrumentals, obviously) contain snippets of the text in the booklet.
' Skywalker Ranch
in Nicasio, CA, and at Longview Farm
in North Brookfield, MA. Producers included Ron St. Germain, Tim Palmer
, and Michael Rosen.
El Cielo has also been released in the SACD
format. This particular disc is a multi-channel hybrid SACD. It is playable as a standard CD in a normal CD player. However, in an SACD player, the album is played in high resolution audio with surround sound.
A demo of the song "Of the Room" appeared on their 2001 Industry Demos EP, and later on Extended Play for the Eastern Hemisphere
.
began circulating through internet forums in 2005. However, any instances of synchronization are quite clearly coincidental, as both the album and the film were in production at approximately the same time.
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
/alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
rock band, dredg
Dredg
Dredg is an American rock group formed in 1993 in Los Gatos, California. The band consists of vocalist Gavin Hayes, guitarist Mark Engles, bassist Drew Roulette and drummer Dino Campanella....
. It was released on October 8, 2002 on Interscope Records. Like dredg's first album, Leitmotif
Leitmotif (album)
*The tracklist on the back of the album simply lists the name of the first track as a variation of the Chinese character, 易 , which means "change". A similar Chinese character, 蜴 , means "chameleon". However, since these characters are not in the English language, most sources simply list the...
, El Cielo is a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
. The title can be translated to mean "the sky" or "the heaven" in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, and to mean "peace and freedom of expression" in dreams.
Album Inspiration
One of dredg's main influences on the album, El Cielo, was a painting by Salvador DalíSalvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
entitled Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bumblebee around a Pomegranate One Second Before Awakening, which is also what the acronym in the first song on the album, "Brushstroke: dcbtfoabaaposba", stands for. The painting clearly influences many of the album's core themes and song titles. For example, in the painting there is a long-legged elephant ("An Elephant In The Delta Waves") with a papal insignia upon its back. "The Papal Insignia" was a song recorded for El Cielo but only saw release of Industry Demos, recorded in 2001, and didn't make it onto El Cielo. Also pictured in the painting is a woman lying in a canyon: "The Canyon Behind Her" is the title of the last song on the album.
This is further supported by the translation of the Japanese spoken words from the beginning of "The Canyon Behind Her": "This album was inspired by a painting titled 'Dream Caused By the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate One Second Before Awakening'. It is recommended that you view this painting as you listen to El Cielo. It is as if one stimulus awakens other senses. In other words, it's about 'drawing music'".
Band members have also been quoted as saying that this Dali painting symbolizes sleep paralysis
Sleep paralysis
Sleep paralysis is paralysis associated with sleep that may occur in healthy persons or may be associated with narcolepsy, cataplexy, and hypnagogic hallucinations. The pathophysiology of this condition is closely related to the normal hypotonia that occurs during REM sleep. When considered to be a...
, a literal representation of the condition from which Dali's wife actually suffered. The booklet with El Cielo contains letters written by sufferers of sleeping disorders with descriptions of various experiences with or relating to sleep paralysis. Singer/Songwriter Gavin Hayes incorporates and expands upon the material found in the booklet for the lyrics to the album. All of the songs on the album (except the instrumentals, obviously) contain snippets of the text in the booklet.
Recording
The album was recorded at George LucasGeorge Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
' Skywalker Ranch
Skywalker Ranch
Skywalker Ranch is the name of the workplace of film director and producer George Lucas. It is located in a secluded, but open area near Nicasio, California, in Marin County. The ranch is located on Lucas Valley Road, although Lucas is not related to the road's namesake, who was a...
in Nicasio, CA, and at Longview Farm
Longview Farm
Longview Farm in Lee's Summit, Missouri, United States was built by Robert A. Long. In planning the farm Long again turned to Henry F. Hoit of Hoit, Price and Barnes, as he had designed Corinthian Hall and the R.A. Long Building. George Kessler was chosen as the landscape architect. The farm and...
in North Brookfield, MA. Producers included Ron St. Germain, Tim Palmer
Tim Palmer
Tim Palmer is a British music producer, audio engineer and songwriter of rock and alternative music.-1980-1990:Palmer worked as an assistant engineer at Utopia Studios in London, England in the early 1980s...
, and Michael Rosen.
El Cielo has also been released in the SACD
Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...
format. This particular disc is a multi-channel hybrid SACD. It is playable as a standard CD in a normal CD player. However, in an SACD player, the album is played in high resolution audio with surround sound.
Song Details
The song "Brushstroke: Reprise" can be divided in two parts, the first part is a 40 second remastered version of the song "Same ol' Road". The second part is an extract from a song called "Wind at the End", which was recorded by the band but not released on any studio album, EP, or DVD.A demo of the song "Of the Room" appeared on their 2001 Industry Demos EP, and later on Extended Play for the Eastern Hemisphere
Extended Play for the Eastern Hemisphere (EP)
Extended Play for the Eastern Hemisphere is a 5-song EP that was released by the band Dredg and Universal Music Group: EU, in 2001.-About the album:...
.
Packaging
Early pressings of El Cielo were in a digipack with pictures of clouds bordered by runes. Later pressings of El Cielo are in a jewel case. The cover of the later versions are obviously the cover of the booklet, which is a sort of brown leathery texture with the band's name and the album name on it (although jewel case versions with the "clouds" cover are known to exist). The image provided on this page is the cover of the digipack version. The booklet which came with versions featuring the "clouds" cover are in full color, the booklet included in copies featuring the "brown leather" cover are in black and white, except for the limited digipak version. This version has a clouds packaging with the brown leather booklet in full color. All releases of the album contain the same disc except for the limited jewel case version, which disc is yellow and white and the SACD version which is an all white gold disc with blue writing.Rumors
Rumors about El Cielo synchronizing lyrically and tonally with the 2004 movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless MindEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 American romantic science fiction film about an estranged couple who have each other erased from their memories, scripted by Charlie Kaufman and directed by the French director, Michel Gondry. The film uses elements of science fiction, psychological...
began circulating through internet forums in 2005. However, any instances of synchronization are quite clearly coincidental, as both the album and the film were in production at approximately the same time.
Track listing
Personnel
- Gavin Hayes – vocals, acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single... - Mark Engles – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s - Drew Roulette – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Dino Campanella – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
Additional musicians
- Ron Saint Germaine – vocals
- Zack HexumZack HexumZack Hexum is a Los Angeles based singer-songwriter.Hexum lists his influences as including Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, Paul McCartney, Todd Rundgren, and Jeff Buckley. Hexum plays both guitar and saxophone...
– saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846... - Greg Ellis – percussion
Music videos
- "Same ol' Road" directed by American McGeeAmerican McGee-Career:McGee began his career at id Software, working on level design, music production, sound effects development, and programming in such games as Doom, Doom II, Quake, and Quake II. In 1998, he moved to Electronic Arts, where he worked as creative director on several projects, including...
. - "Of the Room" directed by Ben Rehki.