OTR: Catherine Wheel - Adam and Eve

On Like Cats and Dogs, Catherine Wheel covered Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here." On Adam and Eve, Catherine Wheel pretty much becomes Pink Floyd circa Wish You Were Here. Like the 1975 Floyd masterpiece, Adam and Eve is a loose concept album; bookended by two untitled tracks at the beginning and end of the disc - which are sometimes referred to as "(intro)" and "(outro)" - this album is best consumed in one sitting from beginning to end. Continuing the perhaps superficial comparisons to Pink Floyd, Bob Ezrin was one of the album's producers (along with GGGarth and Wheel frontman Rob Dickinson). Storm Thorgerson is also back in the amazing pudding designing the cover art: a sensual collection of nude models arranged in boxes. Beyond the surface nods to Pink Floyd, Catherine Wheel created an LP which took the epic sweep, the intelligent rock and the dynamic ebb and flow and brought it in what was contemporary in 1997. Not that one could really guess what year it came out without looking on the back of the CD case.

Adam and Eve would not be Catherine Wheel's last album, but it would be their last great album. Like so many exceptional bands, Catherine Wheel allowed their coda to be a bum note. Wishville was their swan song in 2000. It was also the first Catherine Wheel LP I listened to all of the way through and the only full-length I don't own a copy of. While I was able to pick three songs from it to put into rotation on WAIH, it was the teaser release of the single to "Sparks Are Gonna Fly" which actually got me interested in the band. Included with the two single edits of the band's then newest song was a sampler of what those of us on the outside has been missing: "Black Metallic," "Crank," "Judy Staring at the Sun," "Delicious" and "Waydown" were included so that a college radio music director could scratch the surface of the band's repertoire (and somewhat plug the holes in his or her station's archives).

About a decade ago one could find used CD/record stores damn near everywhere. Most of my Catherine Wheel CDs I ended up purchasing used. Adam and Eve came from CD Warehouse ($7.99 plus tax), Like Cats and Dogs was found at a Half Price Books and Happy Days was purchased from a Record Exchange. I'd probably have used copies of Ferment and Chrome as well if I hadn't received them new as gifts from friends. While Wishville isn't exactly a priority for me to add to my collection, I do like having complete sets of things if at all possible. In the days that I was trawling through dusty record stores I never came across that particular disc. I could likely purchase it online for next to nothing, but like I said - it's not a priority...I also miss the thrill of the hunt.

Printed in the credits of Adam and Eve is the URL www.catherinewheel.com - this now leads to Rob Dickinson's MySpace page. In 2005 Dickinson released Fresh Wine For The Horses which has been his only solo album to date. For all intents and purposes, he seems to have retired from doing music professionally (aside from some remix work with BT in 2010) and is now the creative director for a company which modifies high-performance automobiles: Singer Vehicle Design. Guitarist Brian Futter and and drummer Neil Sims joined forces to form 50 ft Monster, but they seem to be inactive at this point. Original bassist Dave Hawes was replaced with Ben Ellis for Wishville; the former has dropped off the face of the Earth while the latter joined the group Serafin (again replacing a bassist).

Is it sad that Catherine Wheel will likely never release new material? In a way, but reunions are always a very tricky proposition. It just might be best to leave well enough alone; don't live in the past. But for those who don't mind visiting from time to time, Paul McCartney aptly said, "you can always go back and play the old records."