Everything Is Roses
Raging Fire
Pristine 2015
Review by David Bowling
Everything Is Roses 1985-1989 by Raging Fire is one of the more interesting releases to cross my desk this year.
Raging Fire was a Nashville-based band that received some attention in the Midwest and the college circuit. They served as the opening act for such bands as The Replacements, the Cramps, and Gun Club but never really received much commercial success and by the end of the decade, the band members had gone their separate ways. Now their entire recorded output has found its way to CD.
They had one of the more unique sounds on the mid-to-late 1980’s Indy scene. Guitarist Michael Godsey, drummer Mark Medley, and bassist Les Shields were right out of the punk scene, complete with aggressive power chords and basic lyrics. That changed when they met vocalist Melora Zaner who had a bluesy pop approach and wrote lyrics from a feminist perspective. This unique combination produced a blend of music with Zaner’s pop sensibilities combining with the raw instrumentals and in your face lyrics of the men. In many ways they are a connector between punk and the emerging grunge scene.
Songs such as “Pain Of Loss Imagined,” “The Morning In Her,” “You Should Read More Books,” “Knee Jerk Response,” and “Under The Awning” are examples of a fusion that somehow got lost in time.
Everything is Roses 1985-1989 is a look back at one of those what ifs in rock history. It may not have caught on nearly three decades ago but it was creative and remains interesting today.
Rating: ***1/2
Cashbox Music Reviews 