Their music is a mix of rock, folk, jazz and 20th Century Classical music. Music.com remarked that "...Thinking Plague stand out as a shining example of avant-garde music blended with just enough rock for it to be called progressive rock..." Music.com apparently has a system for measuring such things.
While never directly related to Rock in Opposition (RIO), Thinking Plague was strongly influenced by this late-1970s movement, particularly Henry Cow and Art Bears. In spite of Johnson's dislike of the term, the band has often been categorized as a "RIO" band.
Mike Johnson and Bob Drake first met in 1978 and played in several cover bands. They began experimenting with basement recordings in 1980 and by 1982 they had enough song material to attempt a few live performances. For these shows they enlisted the services of classically trained vocalist Sharon Bradford, luthier Harry Fleishman on keyboards, and Rick Arsenault on drums. This ensemble became the first incarnation of Thinking Plague. They played at a few venues around Denver in 1983 but their complicated music was not well received and Johnson and Drake decided to make an album of their material instead.
With Bradford, Fleishman and Mark Fuller on drums the band worked on and off for almost a year recording their songs at a crude 8-track recording facility in the basement of an old slaughterhouse called the Packing House Studios. Having limited funds they did all the tracking and mixing themselves, and released the album, ...A Thinking Plague in 1984 on their own Endemic label. Only 500 LPs were pressed with each cover hand painted by Drake with spray-paint and a stencil. In spite of the small scale, low-tech quality of the release, a number of distributors, including Recommended Records and Wayside Music (Cuneiform Records) agreed to sell the album and it was well received by some critics.
In 1985 Johnson and Drake began to record material for a new Thinking Plague album. The Packing House Studios had closed but they had access to a few "low budget" recording facilities in Denver. Having disbanded the "Packing House" group after their first album, Johnson and Drake recruited a new band: singer-song writer Susanne Lewis, drummer Mark Fuller and keyboardist Eric Moon. Disregarding, or ignorant of the proper "industry" way of doing things, Thinking Plague recorded their second album, Moonsongs. The title track was a fifteen-and-a-half minute "tribal-pagan-environmental-anti-materialistic avant-rock ritual" composed by Johnson. Initially Moonsongs was released in 1986 on cassette by Endemic, but the following year the band signed with Dead Man’s Curve Records in London and Moonsongs was released on LP. As with their first album, Moonsongs was praised in "progressive" circles and Thinking Plague enhanced their stature as an "avant-rock" band.
Riding on the success of their two albums, Thinking Plague performed a series of live shows in 1987 in Denver, opening for Sonic Youth at one of them. Pianist/clarinetist Lawrence Haugseth joined the band for the live performances, but left in early 1988. Haugseth's brief stay did, however, establish the need for a woodwind/reed section in the band. Fuller and Moon had also left the band in late 1987, which prompted the acquisition of three new musicians: classical pianist, Shane Hotle, bassist Maria Moran, and Mark Harris on clarinet, saxophones and flutes. Drake switched from bass guitar to drums.
Recording for a new album began in early 1988 in various studios, including a large rehearsal room in an old yogurt factory (referred to as 'the Yog Factory'). Johnson and Lewis had collaborated on a collection of songs for the album, which featured several "new" instruments, including sampler, tabla, various African and Balinese percussion instruments, and a fiddle (courtesy Bob Drake). Ex-Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith guested on one track, "Organism (version II)", the original version (also with Frith) having been released on Recommended Records' RēR Records Quarterly Vol.2 No.4. Drake did all the production work and the album, In This Life was finished in mid-1988. At the time ex-Henry Cow drummer and Recommended Records founder, Chris Cutler was on tour with Pere Ubu in Denver and Johnson gave Cutler a cassette tape of the new album. Cutler offered to release it on the Recommended label, and in September 1989, In This Life became the first US-made CD on the British label.
In This Life was widely distributed and began "gaining kudos from aficionados of avant-rock from all around the world." But Thinking Plague's euphoria was short lived when Lewis moved to New York City. Attempts to replace her with a local singer were unsuccessful and working "long distance" with her proved impractical at the time. Disillusioned, Drake relocated to Los Angeles to work as an engineer and producer, and Moran left the band, leaving Thinking Plague at the point of disintegrating.
In Los Angeles, Drake met drummer Dave Kerman of an avant-rock band, the 5uu's and began working with Kerman's band. Kerman's interest in Thinking Plague led to him joining the Denver band. Drake and Lewis also agreed to "rejoin" (despite the distances) and with the other remaining members, Johnson, Harris and Hotle, Thinking Plague "reformed" in 1990. For the next few years the band worked intermittently at some long-distance rehearsals, performed in a few concerts and made some new recordings, after which all work was put on hold. During this period of dormancy Johnson toured across Europe in 1995 with Drake, Kerman and the 5uu's, but upon returning to the United States the three agreed that reviving Thinking Plague again was not a practical option.
Johnson joined another local avant-rock band, Hamster Theatre in 1996, and suggested to its leader, accordionist and bassist Dave Willey that he join a new incarnation of Thinking Plague. Willey agreed and recommended Deborah Perry as a singer. At much the same time, Kerman moved to Denver and rejoined the band. With existing members Harris and Hotle the new Thinking Plague began recording new material that Johnson had written. In early 1998 the finished tracks were sent to Drake (now living in France) for mixing and production, and the result was Thinking Plague's fourth album, In Extremis, released in 1998 by Cuneiform Records.
In Extremis was rated the top album in 1998 by Gnosis, and its success resulted in new concert appearances for the band. A new member, Matt Mitchell on keyboards was recruited to replace Hotle who had left after the making of In Extremis, and Thinking Plague performed at the 1999 ProgDay Festival, followed by a tour of the eastern and mid-western United States. In June 2000 the band played at NEARfest, a recording of which was mixed three years later by Drake and released as Upon Both Your Houses in 2004 by NEARfest Records. In July 2000 the band toured France and Italy.
After the concerts in Europe, Kerman left the band and was replaced by ex-Sleepytime Gorilla Museum drummer David Shamrock. Work began on a new album, A History of Madness, which was released in September 2003 by Cuneiform Records. It was recorded over a period of two years, with half the band members flying into Denver from across the United States to add their contributions. A History of Madness was the first Thinking Plague album that Bob Drake did not produce; Johnson and Mark McCoin, of the Brave New Audio studio where the album was recorded, did all the mixing.
Warheads
Thinking Plague Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
they're looking for a goat, gonna cut its throat
(it's) sleeping in their brains, trying to restrain
... reason
they need to have a "jew", someone they can screw
god is great, god is good, thank you for our daily food
jesus loves me, this I know, for the bible tells me so
are stirring up the hive
bigwigs!
are playing with our lives
the chairman of the board of trustees!
is counting up his funds
warheads!
are polishing their guns
as I sat in a movie... staring at the wall
I felt the sickening grasp of threads
distorting the medium of aimless growth
the fabric of existence is ripping into shreds
scraping feet on the doorsteps... entering the bisque
of superficial unconsciousness
that encompasses the days of our toil...
to better the self in a sea of others
the seat is hard where I am to eat
it numbs the food I will despise
watching the noiselessly buzzing flies
ticking the time ‘til the threads release
tension headache with the first sign of night
is erased by a penetrating light
the choking faithful in a nuclear paste
their cadillacs racing & no time to waste
perception battles what insight screams
life is just a dream... within a dream
The lyrics to Thinking Plague's song "Warheads" are a deep commentary on the destructive nature of war and violence, both on an individual and societal level. The opening lines suggest that people are killing time and hiding behind thoughts of murder, which represents how idle thoughts can lead to violent action. The line "they're looking for a goat, gonna cut its throat" points to the concept of finding a scapegoat to blame for problems and using violence to deal with it. The refrain "warheads!" is a reminder that these destructive forces are real and at play in our world.
The middle section of the song seems to be a commentary on the wealthy and powerful who play with the lives of others for their own gain. The line "the chairman of the board of trustees is counting up his funds" highlights the greed that motivates some to put others in harm's way. The line "as I sat in a movie... staring at the wall" is an indication of the singer's feeling of helplessness in the face of these destructive forces. The final lines of the song "life is just a dream... within a dream" suggest that the reality of the destructive nature of war and violence is surreal and nightmarish.
Line by Line Meaning
people killing time, hiding in their minds murder
There are people who are wasting time while having a violent intention in their mind.
they're looking for a goat, gonna cut its throat
These people are searching for a scapegoat so that they can harm it.
(it's) sleeping in their brains, trying to restrain... reason
There's a dormant part in their intellect that is trying to prevent them from doing something irrational.
they need to have a "jew", someone they can screw
They feel the need to target a specific group of people and cause harm to them for no reason.
god is great, god is good, thank you for our daily food
These people have a misplaced trust in a higher power and give thanks for something mundane.
jesus loves me, this I know, for the bible tells me so
Their beliefs are based solely on the Bible and not on rational thinking or evidence.
warheads!
A group of people who are preparing for war and destruction.
are stirring up the hive
Their actions are causing chaos and unrest within society.
bigwigs!
The people in power who are manipulating the masses for their own gain.
are playing with our lives
These bigwigs don't care about the lives of ordinary people and are willing to put them in danger.
the chairman of the board of trustees!
The person in charge of managing an organization is focused only on increasing their wealth.
is counting up his funds
This person is only concerned with making more money and doesn't care about anything else.
warheads!
Again, the group of people that are preparing for war and destruction.
are polishing their guns
They are getting ready for battle and are making sure their weapons are in top condition.
as I sat in a movie... staring at the wall
The singer is feeling overwhelmed and helpless in the face of all this violence and chaos.
I felt the sickening grasp of threads
The artist is struggling with something that is suffocating them emotionally.
distorting the medium of aimless growth
This suffocating feeling is interfering with the artist's ability to progress in life.
the fabric of existence is ripping into shreds
The singer feels like their entire existence is being torn apart.
scraping feet on the doorsteps... entering the bisque
People are coming into the singer's life without permission and causing a mess.
of superficial unconsciousness
These people are unaware of the consequences of their actions.
that encompasses the days of our toil...
This kind of thoughtless behavior is present in our daily lives.
to better the self in a sea of others
People focus more on themselves than on the world around them.
the seat is hard where I am to eat
The singer is struggling to find a comfortable position in life.
it numbs the food I will despise
This discomfort is making it hard for the artist to enjoy anything in life.
watching the noiselessly buzzing flies
The singer is surrounded by meaningless things that are distracting and annoying.
ticking the time ‘til the threads release
The singer is waiting for something that will release them from their suffocating state.
tension headache with the first sign of night
The singer is experiencing a headache from all the stress and anxiety.
is erased by a penetrating light
Something good is happening to the artist that is getting rid of their negative emotions.
the choking faithful in a nuclear paste
People who are blindly devoted to a destructive cause.
their cadillacs racing & no time to waste
These people are driven by greed and are in a rush to reach their goals.
perception battles what insight screams
The singer is struggling to understand the situation around them and is relying on their intuition to guide them.
life is just a dream... within a dream
The artist is questioning the reality of everything and is wondering if it's all just a figment of their imagination.
Contributed by Declan G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@mantzface
One of the best songs ever written
@katemurphy1915
Isn’t this wonderful music??? I haven’t heard anything thing remotely like this since I discovered King Crimson when I was a child.
@ulfingvar1
It IS great. Am new to this band, is it worth exploring further? Sound like it..
@mikereiss4216
It's very good Kate.
@mikereiss4216
@ulfingvar1 Their later albums are rated higher actually.
@scottboldberg8494
Take a listen to Idiot Flesh, if you haven't already . They had a very similar sound.
@talastra
@Scott Boldberg Not just Idiot Flesh, but Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and Free Salamander Exhibit. (Common denominator: Nils Frykdahl projects).
But yes. I got to hear SGM in concert, and I mentioned they reminded me of Thinking Plague, and Nils said, "No, well yes, but actually Art Bears". (Or Henry Cow if you prefer.)
@katemurphy1915
Thank you for the beautiful music; no one makes music this good anymore...
@ritakarpati4134
That bass sound is to go into battles for.
@mikereiss4216
Ha ha. I see what you did there. ;)