Meet The Residents Wiki
Advertisement
Stubmole-sml-trans Won't you keep us working? Working down below?
This page needs work to reach an encyclopedic standard. If you see something missing, you can help The Mysterious Spanish Ladies by joining the wiki and expanding the article.

Roadworms: The Berlin Sessions is a live album by The Residents, consisting of an abridged new arrangement of their 1998 studio album, Wormwood: Curious Stories From The Bible.

History[]

Following their 1998 biblical concept album Wormwood, The Residents began adapting the hour-long song cycle for the stage, starting with a performance at The Fillmore on Halloween of 1998 and evolving into a world tour lasting throughout 1999.

Whilst on this tour, between shows in Munich and Mainz, The Residents found themselves with a day off and were, naturally, bored. The group booked out the SFB Sendesaal recording studio in Berlin to record selections from the live show to cure this boredom. The Residents were pleased with this studio recording and decided to save it for later. Flash forward seven months to February of 2000, and The Residents returned to Berlin to complete the recordings, which the group planned to feature on their next album. The Residents completed the album in March of 2000.

Tony Janssen, who had been working as their sound engineer on stage throughout the tour, recorded the sessions, and Molly Harvey performs co-lead vocals with Mr. Skull in his first credited vocal performance.

Nine out of the eleven tracks featured on the album are re-recordings of Wormwood songs, with the other two being "Un-American Band" and 'Abramam'. Un-American Band originated from a Grand Funk Railroad song performed live by The Residents around the time they were writing Wormwood in 1997. Abraham was a song exclusive to the stage show and here features an unlisted version of Kill Him.

Release[]

Ralph America announced Roadworms on May 10th 2000.[1] The album was released June 25th[2]on CD and as a double LP edition, by East Side Digital in the US, and Bomba Records in Japan. The album was released on CD as well as on a 2xLP. The LP version fulfilled a long time goal of The Residents, as it was pressed on three sides.

After its initial release, Roadworms remained out of print for 20 years and became something of a rarity. A new remaster of the album was first reissued as part of the pREServed Wormwood Box set in 2022.

Reception[]

Contemporary[]

Reviewing Roadworms over a year after its release,[3] freelance music reviewer Mark Prindle felt that "not every song is improved, but many are, and ALL are fascinatingly altered enough to interest any fan of the original album", noting that the new versions of the songs are "very, very dark" compared to the original versions.[4]

Track listing[]

  1. Un-American Band (2:59)
  2. How to Get a Head. Road (5:20)
  3. Hanging by His Hair. Road (3:28)
  4. God's Magic Finger. Road (3:20)
  5. Tent Peg in the Temple. Road (4:09)
  6. Fire Fall. Road (5:34)
  7. Cain and Abel. Road (4:15)
  8. Dinah and the Unclean Skin. Road (4:04)
  9. Abraham. Road (6:44)
    1. Abraham
    2. Kill Him!
  10. Burn Baby, Burn. Road (3:42)
  11. Judas Saves. Road (8:46)

Credits[]

Release History[]

Year Label Format Region Notes
2000 Euro Ralph CD Europe
LP 2xLP in blue.
East Side Digital CD USA
Bomba Records Japan
2022 Cherry Red, MVDaudio, New Ralph Too USA, Europe As part of the Wormwood Box.

Cover Art Gallery[]

Euro Ralph[]

See Also[]

Buy Or Die[]

External links and references[]

13thann-sml-transparent The Residents live albums

Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! (1976)
Oh Mummy Oh Daddy Can't You See That It's True What The Beatles Did To Me I Love Lucy Did To You (2010)

The Mole Show (1982 - 1983)
Mole Show (Live At The Roxy) (1983) · Mole Show: Live In Holland (1989)

The 13th Anniversary Show with Snakefinger (1985-1987)
The 13th Anniversary Show - Live In Japan (1986) · Live In The USA! 13th Anniversary Tour (1986)
13th Anniversary Show - Live In Holland (1987) · 13th Anniversary Show - Ritz NY - Jan 16, 1986 (2010)
The 13th Anniversary Show - Cleveland (2014)

The Snakey Wake (1987)
Live At The Snakey Wake (2010)

Cube-E (The History of American Music in 3 E-Z Pieces) (1988 - 1990)
Buckaroo Blues & Black Barry (1989) · Cube-E - Live In Holland (1990)
Cube-E Dynasone 3EZ (2011)

Disfigured Night (1997)
Live At The Fillmore (1998) · Adobe Disfigured Night (2009)
The Marlboro Eyeball Experience (2009) · The Fillmore Dress Rehearsal (Act One) (2009)

Wormwood Live (1998 - 1999)
Wormwood Live 1999 (1999)

Icky Flix Live (2001)
Brava (2010)

Demons Dance Alone (2003)
Demonic! Demons Dance Alone Live In Oslo (2012)

The Way We Were (2005)
The Way We Were (2005)

The Bunny Boy (2008)
Bunny Boy Live In Frankfurt (2021)

The Randy, Chuck & Bob Trilogy (2010 - 2016)
Talking Light (Live) series (2010 - 2011) · Talking Light Live In Rehearsal, Santa Cruz, California (2010)
Talking Light Bimbo's (2011) · The Wonder of Weird (2014) · Shadowland (2015) · Sam's Enchanted Evening (2023) · Shadowland: Live in Fribourg, Switzerland (2024)

In Between Dreams (2017 - 2019)
In Between Dreams Live (2019)

God In 3 Persons - Live! (2019 - 2022)
God In 3 Persons (2020)

Dog Stab! / Faceless Forever (2021 - 2023)
Secret Show Live in San Francisco (2024) · The Residents are Faceless! (2024)

Live in the studio
Assorted Secrets (1984) · Roadworms: The Berlin Sessions (2000) · Mole Dance 82 (2021)

Related articles
The Residents discography · The Residents live shows

Advertisement