Conventional hipster wisdom always held that the Gun Club's inaugural "Fire of Love" with it's ragged, provocative, adrenaline and moonshine fueled swamp-boogie punk, far out-paced anything else that Jeffrey Lee Pierce ever put on vinyl. In terms of pure Tragic Beauty, though, conventional hipster wisdom would be dead wrong. The entire Miami album has held up extremely well, produced by Blondie's Chris Stein (prior to Gun Club, JLP was the president of the Blondie fan club!), the album was haunted like it's predecessor – but of a different place and time. "Mother of Earth" is a highlight... aching with the pain of abandoned places, spaces and faces... of hot winds and the whining wail of pedal steel guitar. In "Mother of Earth" the ghost is less menacing and confrontational perhaps than in "Fire of Love's" "Ghost on the Highway", but this ghost no less horrifying.
JLP premature demise at the age of 37 adds to the Tragic Beauty of this jam.
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